Working The World With Skill!
by 0 Jordinio 0
Summary: AU - From the episode Four Roads Diverged In A Pokemon Port! New feelings surface as the Lily of The Valley Conference approaches. New styles, new goals and the world awaits. Ash's dream to become the Master is well within reach, now all that's left to do is grasp it with his Pokemon by his side. Pearlshipping (Summary - Pending).
1. Chapter 1

**To be perfectly honest. The battle between Ash and Kenny before the Lily Of The Valley Conference really ticked me off. They really underpowered Buizel during the fight, taking away two of his best points. His speed and his durability. All just so they could show-off more childish views in that since Kenny was crushing on Dawn he obviously had to win.**

**In that same episode, Kenny's Empoleon couldn't even destroy a rather small tree with Hydro Cannon of all attacks. When Barry's Empoleon used it against Paul, it completely obliterated multiple large boulders before almost ploughing through Paul's Electivire.**

**So I'll be starting this off from how I believed a battle between Ash's Buizel and Kenny's Empoleon should have gone, and the story will continue on from there. The differences rippling outwards and changing how the future was set – I.E canon.**

**For the record. This chapter is unbeta'd. I didn't really notice much mistakes during my read-through of the chapter and what I did see I fixed up. My beta has been missing in action for like 24 hours and I don't feel like waiting around for him before posting this. It's already just been sitting ready for posting in my finished folder for a good 12 hours.**

**So without further adieu – Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Ash grinned, thumbing his nose as he stared at his opponent eagerly, "Alright Kenny." The raven haired trainer began, "Since you challenged me, the first moves all yours." He stated.

In stark contrast to Ash, his opponent Kenny a brown-haired youth a small bit shorter than him had his eyes set, cold and almost glaring if one were to look closely, "Fine, then." He replied, outstretching his hand and pointing at Ash's Pokemon, "Empoleon Flash Cannon, now!" Kenny commanded.

His Pokemon, Empoleon a large bipedal navy blue Penguin-like Pokemon with a long yellow beak and thee large-pointed horns thrust both its metal tipped wings to its side and tensed before opening its beak and unleashing a narrow beam of silvery-white energy.

Ash allowed it to close in before he made his move, "Dodge it, Buizel." He ordered, amber eyes both calm and eager and a grin still tugging at his lips.

There was truly no excitement quite like a Pokemon battle.

Buizel obeyed in an instant, smacking the ground beneath him with his twin-tails Buizel launched himself a few feet into the air and allowed the beam of the Flash Cannon to harmlessly pass by beneath him and explode against a bush, removing the plant from existence.

"You left yourself open!" Kenny suddenly declared as Buizel dodged, "Drill Peck, now!" He told his Pokemon.

With a running start, Empoleon blasted off the ground in a running jump and blitzed across the air like a vertical spinning top.

Ash was nonplussed though, "Intercept it!" He ordered almost instantly in response.

Buizel met Empoleon's spinning charge head-on in mid-air and punched both fists harshly into Empoleon's beak. Empoleon continued to spin as hard as it could, attempting to break through and pierce Buizel with its glowing beak.

But no such luck. With each passing moment, the strength behind Buizel's grip slowed down Empoleon's spin and the dual Water and Steel-Type Pokemon's attack lost its luster. They landed upon the ground again, Empoleon back on its feet and bent over as Buizel kept a harsh grip on its face.

"Disengage!" Kenny shouted, eyes suddenly darting with panic and his voiced tinged with urgency.

Empoleon obeyed and tried to tug its beak from Buizel's grip, but the Sea Weasel Pokemon held strong. Ash himself continued to grin, "No chance, Buizel use Water Gun!" He said.

At point blank range, Buizel let loose the compressed jet of water right into Empoleon's face and let go of its beak. The jet of water, with enough force behind it to crush stone into fine powder ploughed into the Pokemon's face and carried it metres away through the air and crashing into the stone wall surrounding the battlefield harshly.

The stone of the wall cracked beneath the power of the impact and Empoleon fell to the ground face first, and lay still.

"No!" Kenny cried out, clenching his fists, "C'mon Empoleon get up! You can do it!" He continued, trying to motivate his Pokemon to regain its feet.

He needn't have worried though. Empoleon pushed itself to its feet a few seconds later after regaining its bearings. Its beak was bruised quite badly, and one of its three horns looked misshapen but other than that it looked fine. "Poleon!" It barked out, swiping one of its wings at Buizel in a challenging gesture.

Buizel merely grinned back. His fighting spirit soaring with anticipation for a good battle.

Kenny breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright Empoleon, let's end this here with Hydro Cannon." The brown haired Twinleaf Town native stated. He wasn't willing to risk losing here by getting in close again, he'd just have Empoleon blow Buizel away with the most powerful Water-type attack.

This battle was too important. He had to prove here that he was better than Ash and better for Dawn to travel with. He'd seen the way she looked at him at times, how excited she got when he cheered her on during Contests.

He almost shuddered with anxiety, it was far far too risky.

It took a few moments of preparation for Empoleon to gather the power needed for the attack. But Ash and Buizel seemed to fine to just wait and watch them for now. They seemed to be emulating the way Flint had battled Jasmine the day before, countering each move with as minimal effort as possible and then exploding into full powered devastating attacks.

With another loud bark, Empoleon allowed the power to explode forth from its beak in the form of a small icy-blue sphere of condensed and empowered water.

The attack was almost to fast for the eye to follow. Blinding in its speed, Buizel took action before Ash ordered himself and flipped straight into the air, right over the Hydro Cannon attack.

Ash was just fine with that though as the attack ploughed into the ground with enough power to leave a metre deep crater in Buizel's previous position. "Sonic Boom!" He ordered quickly.

With multiple swift beats of his tails, Buizel launched three sickles of compressed wind straight down at Empoleon who couldn't dodge in time due to the recharge recoil that came with using a move like Hydro Cannon – the drawback that came with calling forth and unleashing that much power so quickly.

Each sickle exploded on impact against Empoleon and pushed the Pokemon harshly into the ground, harder with each exploding strike.

"Looks like Empoleon still has some work to do on that attack." Ash mused as Buizel landed in front of him again and they watched Empoleon shakily struggle to its feet, its metal armour plating dented and charred from the multiple Sonic Boom attacks.

Kenny cursed under his breath, clenching his fists again in aggravation. It was true, no doubt about that. Empoleon had just learned the attack for the Grand Festival, and that went nowhere fast during his appeal round where he failed out utterly.

Empoleon had the advantage here, he should still win this battle hands down. Empoleon was bot fully evolved and of a typing that none of the attacks Ash's Buizel could use would be effective against. Not to mention he'd had his Empoleon long before Ash ever got Buizel.

Going by the statistics this should be an easy win for him. So why?

* * *

Dawn cringed as Empoleon went down again, "Kenny and Empoleon are really taking a beating out there." The bluenette 14 year old Coordinator commented, hugging Piplup in her lap, "And Ash n' Buizel don't seem to have even broken a sweat yet."

Brock sighed, cupping his chin in thought, "I was really rooting for Kenny on this one but this result is to be expected I suppose." He stated in lament. Pity, it didn't look good for another man in love out there right now.

Dawn turned her head to him, raising an eyebrow in confusion, "Why?" She questioned. Kenny was a very strong Coordinator, but he was being taken apart with ease out there.

Brock sighed again, "There's a few reasons really, but the two main ones are Ash has been a trainer since he was 10 so he has much more experience than Kenny who started when he turned 14." The Breeder explained, "And he made the mistake of challenging Ash to a normal Pokemon battle instead of a Contest Battle."

"Okay, I'll give you the point on the experience thing but I don't see how Kenny cant just battle like he does in a contest and put up a better fight now." Dawn responded, confusion showing in her sapphire blue eyes.

Brock shook his head in exasperation. Dawn was a Coordinator aswell, but he thought she would have noticed how much more intense Ash's Gym Battles were in comparison with Contest Battles. Best to placate her he supposed and explain it as un-insultingly as he could, "The thing is, Coordinators are always trying to show off the beauty of their Pokemon and their attacks and for that reason Coordinators do not focus as much on speed or power as they do on controlling the power they already have and learning to make their attacks as flashy and good looking as possible." He explained, "Thats why if you remember right Barry's Empoleon had a much bigger and powerful version of Hydro Cannon in comparison with Kenny's Empoleon."

Realization shone in her eyes, "Oh!" She said softly, hugging Piplup a bit tighter to her.

Brock nodded, "In comparison with Ash who has much more experience and trains his Pokemon day in day out to maximize their power, speed and durability – Kenny falls woefully short just like any Coordinator who hasn't been at it for years on end would be." He told her, voice serious and lecturing. This was a fact she had to learn and work around if she ever battled normal trainers.

"..But." Dawn began hesitantly, "If it's like that, then why doesn't Ash do the same to me when he train with each other?" She questioned. Dawn honestly hadn't noticed during Ash's Gym Battles, to be perfectly honest she realized she had always been caught up in the fast-paced excitement of Ash's battles which were nothing like the Contests she usually watched or participated in which were full of regal movement and beautiful techniques.

Once again, Brock sighed. He was beginning to wonder how many times in this conversation he would, "Because those are just practice battles, as much as for him as they are for you." He explained once again, "You wouldn't have really gotten much at all out of them if just Ash came at you full throttle and blasted away at your Pokemon with devastating attacks and so fast that he gave you no chance to counter or make moves of your own."

What could she say to that? It made a lot more sense than Dawn realized. She was about to open her mouth to reply when Brock continued, "Why do you think you managed to beat so many Coordinators with much more experience than you?" He asked her.

Her eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt quite angry at the implication. Brock saw as much though and raised his hands in a placating manner, "I don't mean to say it like you're a bad trainer or anything like that, infact you're very good but why do you think you managed to go all the way to the finals of the Grand Festival in your very first attempt?" Brock questioned her again.

That puzzled her a bit, "I thought it was just a combination of my skill and luck." Dawn replied, voice low and uncertain.

Brock shook his head, "No, that's not what I mean." He told her, "Let me put it another way for you." The brown haired teen said, cupping his chin and thinking for amount. "Aha! Okay, as simple as it sounds way back at the Wallace Cup May should have crushed you easily in that battle." He told her.

Indignation swelled up again, "Hey!" Dawn shouted at him in annoyance, Piplup glaring at him alongside her from her lap.

Nonplussed, Brock continued, "But she didn't for two reasons. The first was because she abandoned battling the way Ash taught her when he mentored her through Hoenn and Kanto because her Rival told her that was why she lost a contest she was competing in." He told her, holding up one finger, "Boy, that one actually hurt Ash to be honest." Brock continued, shaking his head sadly.

Dawn's eyes widened at that tidbit of information. She never knew, and they seemed so close when they visited. She wondered how Ash could have put what was basically a spit in the face for his efforts behind him. "Okay, then what's two?" She questioned.

Brock smiled at her, flicking up a second finger, "Two, is that you battled just as Ash taught you and still managed to incorporate beautiful and flashy techniques even then." He replied, "The truth is, May quit using a battle style that let her compete on par with the best of Coordinators all because of some bad luck and in the process, while her techniques were more beautiful her skill as a battler is drastically reduced." He lamented with a sigh, before smiling again, "but you did what she couldn't and kept the battle style Ash taught you and modified it to suit you." Brock concluded.

"And that's why you're both a good Coordinator and trainer, just like Ash if you remember his participation in the Jubilife Contest." Brock continued, eyes locked on the battle clashing infront of them, "Ash mentored you in battling, and helped you train your Pokemon to get all the experience, power, durability and speed they would need and the rest was up to you." Brock nodded his head after saying that, "Yup, Ash is quite proud of how far you've come. The guy might be a bit dense when it comes to the technical aspects of things like type match-ups but when it comes to battling the boy is sure something to behold."

"Huh." Dawn muttered in reply. She'd never thought of it like that. But now that she thought about it, most of her early troubles in Contests were during the appeal rounds. When it came to battling she aced it everytime. That brought up another few questions though, specifically about Ash and May.

"But if I done so well with it, why didn't May do so aswell?" She questioned, peering up at Brock from beside him as he watched Empoleon once again fail to land a blow against Buizel.

Brock's answer was simple, "She did." He replied, "She went to the top 8 in Hoenn narrowly losing to her Rival Drew who had a whole year of experience and training on her who then lost in the finals and then to the top 4 in Kanto where she again lost narrowly to a very powerful and experienced Coordinator after defeating her rival Drew – she was called Solidad and she won the whole thing and in my opinion in terms of sheer power and experience would have crushed you or Zoey in a battle." The once Gym Leader continued to explain.

Dawn's eyes widened bit by bit, and her jaw dropped open slightly, "What!? That doesn't even make sense!" She replied vehemently, "If she was that good, why wasn't she anywhere near that strong during my battle with her?" Dawn challenged, her eyes narrowed.

Brock sighed, "There's two reasons to that aswell and it's quite similar to this battle that's going on at the moment." He said in return.

Dawn raised an eyebrow, "How?" She asked. The blue haired teenager was quite confused, how was this in anyway similar to what happened with May?

"Well, to be frank Kenny is jealous of Ash the same way Drew was jealous with him." Brock replied, cupping his chin once again in thought, "Although, Kenny is atleast going about it in a better way in that he's trying to prove he's better than Ash instead of taking little digs at him like Drew did."

"What...?" Dawn said in reply, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion.

Brock sighed, "No use playing dense now Dawn we both already know that Kenny has a bit of a crush on you and wants you to travel with him, well the same could be said for Drew with May." He said curtly, raising an eyebrow in interest when he saw Buizel slide through Empoleon's legs and trip the bigger Pokemon by hooking his twin tails around its legs as he slid along. That was quite interesting to see.

Dawn's cheeks heated up as the topic was brought up as bluntly as it was, "So? It wasn't like I was going to go with him if he won anyway, I already promised I'd be there to cheer Ash on during the Sinnoh League." She replied, turning her head away so he couldn't see her red cheeks.

Brock snorted in amusement, "I'm sure." He responded dryly, "But anyway, the point is Drew is a little shit who was jealous of how close to Ash, May was so he gave her something to blame for her loss and she did and then she went on to Johto with Drew after the Kanto Grand Festival to try and make her own battle-style but as you remember when she visited it didn't quite go aswell as she thought it would and that little prick Drew managed to both break up our travelling group and really bring down May's overall skill." He explained next, voice flat and filled with an almost cold anger that Dawn had never heard from Brock of all people before.

Her eyes widened significantly when he swore twice, she'd never even heard Brock curse by mistake before. Brock must have saw her reaction to his swearing because he rushed to both apologize and explain, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, but I really hate that Drew guy." He told her, "He was a very arrogant person and very spiteful aswell. He tried to break up the friendship between Ash and May when he blamed her losing on the battle-style Ash taught her, he was hoping for Ash to be more angry about it and cause a big blow-up over it."

She felt the need to point out, "But they seemed really friendly when she visited for the Wallace Cup." Dawn said.

Brock sighed once again, this time sadly, "It hurt Ash yeah, because whether she knew she was doing it or not May was basically saying that the battle-style Ash had created through some of the toughest battles and experiences of his life and then spent the better part of a year teaching her just wasn't good enough for her standards." He shook his head, ridding himself of the swelling anger in his chest. He himself was indignant on Ash's behalf, that was his best friend after all and he wasn't about to let anyone walk all over him, he deserved far more respect than that. "But Ash was really grown up about it despite the hurt he must've felt, he encouraged her to go after what she believed was right and even told her that he had faith she could do it." That was just the kind of guy Ash was, he'd do anything for his friends or Pokemon.

Dawn's thoughts were raging in every direction. It was hard to try and wrap her head around all of that. Her raging thoughts were interrupted by one last statement from Brock before he got back to watching the battle between Ash and Kenny, "Ash and May were closer than he and Misty ever were and I thought he and Misty would end up dating once upon a time. I guess the saying 'If you love something let it go, and if it is meant to be it'll come back to you' is quite true seeing as Ash let May go and when they met back up again they seemed closer than ever." He commented, "Although, it's not like there's a shortage on girls who are crushing on Ash – infact I can think of four of the top of my head with ease." He mused, his voiced tinged with amusement and his head turned to the side so Dawn couldn't see the smirk of amusement on it.

Dawn's thoughts whirled all the faster. She had a lot to think about it seemed.

* * *

Ash chewed his lip in thought as Buizel once again landed infront of him after countering Empoleon's attack. Emulating Flint's battle-style was going well, but he was copying it far too much and he was feeling antsy from holding back for so long. This waiting and countering before attacking style was good, he admitted it worked well but it just wasn't his thing. He'd have to work with it a bit to make it more flexible so it fit in with his own proper style of battling.

"Metal Claw!" Kenny commanded, breaking him from his thoughts.

Empoleon blitzed forward, bruised and dented in multiple places and noticeably limping but attacking full throttle nonetheless. Ash's amber eyes narrowed, time to win this. It was good practice, but the battle was going far too slow to be as exciting as normally.

"Counter Shield." The raven haired trainer ordered simply.

When Empoleon was a few feet from Buizel, Ash's Pokemon slid onto his back spinning rapidly and launching a continuous Water Gun straight into the air. The rapid spinning movements caused the Water Gun to spiral rapidly all around Buizel's spinning form and the area all around Buizel for multiple metres was full of lashing whips of defensive water.

Empoleon was smashed harshly in the face from the front, only to stumble back and be smashed in the back by another whip of water. From side to side Empoleon was battered around by the highly compressed whips of water.

Beaten nearly to a pulp, and dented almost everywhere on its body Empoleon fell to its knees groaning and eyes clenched shut in pain.

That was all the opening Ash needed, "Now come out of that spin into an Ice Punch, Buizel!" Ash commanded, punching his fist forward in triumph.

The whips of compressed water dispersed and Buizel shut up from his spin, fist glowing an icy-blue colour and delivered a spin-momentum enhanced uppercut right into the bottom of Empoleon's beak.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Empoleon briefly cried out in pain, before half of its face was frozen solid and the dual Water and Steel-type Pokemon was launched a few metres high into the air from the force of the punch before landing harshly on the ground, un-moving.

There was silence for a few moments. And then Brock stood up, waving his arm down in the direction of the downed form of Empoleon, "Empoleon is unable to battle, the winners are Ash and Buizel." He declared.

Kenny sighed in disappointment, but he took his defeat like as gracefully as possible, "Well done Empoleon, you did a great job take a nice long rest." He said, holding a Pokeball up and returning his Pokemon into it within a beam of red light.

Ash himself walked over to Buizel and rubbed the Pokemons head affectionately, "Well done Buizel, great job!" He said, grinning happily, "You're definitely ready for the Sinnoh League!" He declared, idly smoothing down the parts of his ruffled fur from the fight and patting him down to make sure he was un-injured.

Buizel pumped a fist to both Ash and Pikachu on his shoulder, "Bui bui bui!" He declared in return, eyes blazing with fiery determination.

Pikachu sparked his red cheeks in reply, smirking back while Ash laughed and held up Buizel's Pokeball, "We'll be leaving for the Lily Of The Valley Conference on a ferry soon, but I wanna work on turning your Water Gun into a Hydro Pump when we get there, kay?" He told his Pokemon.

A power attack like that was the only thing Buizel was lacking for now. And Hydro Pump would go a long way to fixing that up.

Buizel's eyes practically sparkled at the idea of learning a new and powerful attack. "Bui bui!" He said, nodding his head eagerly in reply.

Ash nodded, "Again, good job buddy take a nice long rest before we get back to some hard training." He said, returning Buizel back into his Pokeball and clipping it back onto his belt.

After standing back up to his full height he came face to face with Brock. The older teen was smiling at him proudly, "That was expertly done Ash, I can say with confidence you're definitely ready for whatever gets thrown at you during the league." Brock said to him.

Ash grinned at him, scratching his cheek bashfully, "Hope so, but there's a few other attacks I wanna get down with some of my Pokemon before the battle rounds start." He replied, trailing his fingers fom his own cheek to rub one of Pikachu's ears.

"Chaa." Pikachu moaned out in content as he lay across Ash's shoulder.

Brock raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "Really? What types of attack were you thinking of?" He questioned in curiosity.

Ash rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, I was thinking that Pikachu could use some defensive moves so I was thinking of trying to teach him Light Screen and Reflect." He replied.

Brock nodded his head. Those were some good choices for Pikachu. "Yeah, Pikachu definitely has all the speed and power he needs but durability because of his species isn't all that high and mostly stands back up from extremely powerful attacks through willpower alone, so those two attacks to cut down the effects of attacks and special attacks would be really helpful." He said. He waved his and in a 'go on' motion, "So what else?" He asked.

"Hydro Pump s a definite for Buizel, he lacks an attack of that magnitude." He rattled off next, Brock nodding along in consent, "After battling Flint I definitely wanna teach Infernape Flare Blitz and maybe Thunderpunch."

Brock nodded again, they all made sense to him. Especially Hydro Pump for Buizel to make up for his lack of powerful techniques and Thunderpunch for Infernape to deal with Water-types better. "What about the others?" He questioned next.

Ash crossed his arms behind his head as they began to walk and make their way to meet back up with Flint and Jasmine. "Staraptor is perfect for now I think, although a ranged attack like Hyper Beam would definitely be a big help, with Gible he still needs to master Draco Meteor before he'll be ready for the League and for Torterra I'm not a hundred percent sure but after seeing Paul's Torterra I think Frenzy Plant would be a great idea to teach him." He explained.

Brock nodded his head with each attack given for each Pokemon, "Those are some pretty solid attacks, but the problem is they all take quite a bit of training to master and you only have a month left before the League starts." The breeder replied to his best friend.

Ash sighed before grinning, "Yeah, but I'm certain we can do it. My Pokemon have never let me down before so the way I see it." He said, grin widening, "A month is more than enough time for them to learn these moves."

Brock laughed. Same old Ash, always confident he and his Pokemon could do whatever they put their minds to. But it wasn't a bad disposition at all in his opinion.

* * *

As Brock made his way over to chat with Ash, Kenny had made his own way over to Dawn after returning Empoleon to his Pokeball. Before she could speak up though, Kenny did. "Look Dawn." He began, his voice steady and his jaw set and with all his might trying not to belay his nervousness here. Confidence was the key, and his last shot here. "I'll be over at the lighthouse, if you decide you want to go on a journey with me instead of Ash I'll be waiting there for you." He told her. And with that said, he turned on his heel and made to leave.

Dawn sighed in regret, and grabbed him by the shoulder stopping him in place. "Kenny.." She began softly, "I'm flattered really don't think I'm not, but I have to be honest here when I tell you my feelings for you don't go any farther than friendship." The bluenette confessed.

Kenny stiffened and then he sighed. "I thought so." He said softly, "But I had to try, or I would've regretted it." He told her without telling her.

Dawn nodded, even if he didn't see it due to his turned back. "I understand." She replied, eyes towards the ground.

And suddenly his voice was back, and almost as teasing as it normally was. "So Ash huh?" He questioned, still not turning around.

Dawn sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "I dunno, maybe?" She said, sounding a bit confused. "I'm not sure on my feelings for him yet, do I like him like that or is it just admiration for everything he's done for me on my journey so far? I just don't know, and if what Brock said is true and I do like him I have quite a bit of competition."

Kenny barked a somewhat strangled laugh, "Well I've never known you to back down from a challenge, so if you do like him go get im'...DeeDee." He trailed off with the nickname he gave her during their kindergarten years.

Dawn puffed her cheeks slightly at the nickname, but held her annoyance in. "Where will you go now on your journey?" She asked as the moment passed.

Kenny finally turned to face her, smiling slightly, "I'm thinking Johto, there's still a few months before the Grand Festival over there so if I really push it I may be able to compete over there." He replied.

Dawn smirked lightly at the reply, nudging his shoulder teasingly with a fist, "That's just like you, attempting to get all five ribbons needed to participated halfway through the season." She joked.

Kenny laughed, "You know me DeeDee." He jabbed back.

The blue haired Coordinator giggled, "Well when you're over there if you compete against another Coordinator named Drew make sure you beat him and badly." She told him.

Kenny raised an eyebrow, "Did this guy do something to make you angry or something?" He questioned.

Dawn shook her head, still smiling. "No, but from what I hear he isn't a nice guy and deserves all the misfortune he gets."

The brown haired of the two snorted, "Right then, I promise to cream this guy if I ever battle him then kay?" He told her.

Dawn merely smiled and hugged him lightly before stepping back, "Good luck."

"Make sure you keep an eye on the Johto Grand Festival because you'll definitely see me winning it all." He replied confidently before turning on his heel and walking away, tossing a wave over his shoulder at her. "Later DeeDee!"

Dawn watched him walk away until he turned a corner and left her sight and then she sighed. She looked down at Piplup hugging her leg and smiled, "Let's go Piplup, we've got a lot to figure out before we decide on anything else."

"Pip!" Her starter Pokemon chirped happily, leaping into her arms.

As she turned and began to jog after Ash and Brock. Her thoughts turned to her feelings. What did she really feel for Ash? Was it just a case of hero-worship for her mentor? Or did she really have romantic feelings for him?

And who the hell were these girls that Brock hinted at that were pining after him?

* * *

Later that evening as the dark night sky fell over the ferry travelling to the Lily Of The Valley Island, Dawn sat outside their cabin staring up at the twinkling stars above.

She had a lot on her mind. The idea that she really had come within one successful attack of becoming the winner of the Grand Festival was almost mind boggling. She had thought it would be years before she even came close to such an achievement.

But it hadn't even been a year yet, and she'd been runner up on her first try. Thanks to Ash. It was amazing to think if it hadn't been for him teaching her how to battle she probably wouldn't have got her five ribbons in time for the Grand Festival.

Pokemon Battling wasn't an easy career path for any trainer. It took years to truly be great at it and build your own style. That's why it was such a big deal to her that Ash mentored her in his own battle-style as a basis for her to build her own style off of for contests.

Dawn could understand just why Brock really hated that Drew guy. And there was even a trace of anger in her for May. She could honestly think of no greater insult to Ash than to spit his teachings of his battle-style back in his face as if it wasn't good enough.

It kind of made her want to find this Drew guy and spit in his face.

Her vengeful thoughts of what she would like to do to this Drew guy in penance were interrupted as Ash sat down beside her on the bench she was sitting on. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked, running his hand through his messy raven hair.

"Yeah." Dawn replied softly, smiling at him, "Got a lot on my mind, ya know?" She stated.

Ash laughed lightly, "I bet." He responded, "Coming so close to your goal and falling short just an inch from the finish line must really frustrating." He said, patting her shoulder gently and sympathetically.

Dawn shook her head, still smiling at him. "Nuh-uh." She said, "I'm really proud to have gotten that far this early in my journey."

Ash nodded his head, grinning back at her, "I hear ya." He told her in reply, "I may not have won a League yet, but even then I'm really proud of all of my Pokemon for all of the hard work they put in. So I do understand where you're coming from."

After all, he may not have even gotten runner-up in a League tournament yet. But he may aswell have in the Hoenn League. If the referee had called that battle only a second earlier it would have been his win or a second later it would have been a tie because Tyson's Meowth fainted as soon as it was declared the winner. And then Tyson went on to win his last two matches with ease.

He was particularly proud of that, and in his mind he was more the runner-up than the person Tyson defeated in the finals with only losing two Pokemon in the whole battle.

But that was neither here, nor there. Because, pretty soon he would be the champion of the Sinnoh League.

"Did I ever thank you?" Dawn questioned, interrupting his thoughts on past Leagues.

He looked her in the eye and raised an eyebrow, "For what?" Ash asked in return. Had he done something lately that was worth thanking him for? He didn't think so.

"For teaching me how to battle." Was her almost whispered reply.

"Oh." He realized, before grinning. "'No need to Worry'." He quoted her, grin stretching as she puffed her cheeks slightly, "It's just because it was you and the type of person you are." He told her.

Dawn blinked. Cheeks deflating and turning slightly red, "W-what do you mean?" She stuttered.

"Kind? Determined? Passionate or even just fun to hang with." Ash ticked off, raising a finger after every point, "Pick one, they describe you to a T and I really enjoy being around people like you." He said, leaning slightly closer and allowing his grin to shrink into a soft smile.

With that said. He stood up, stretching his arms out and yawned. "Oh yeah, talking to you always helps me relax." He said, "I can definitely get to sleep now, g'night Dawn." Ash told her, patting her arm gently and then walking off back into their cabin to catch up on his sleep.

Dawn watched him go, her cheeks stained a dark red from what he said. Slowly, she raised a hand up to her chest and pressed her palm flat against her breast where her heart lay underneath. "Oh..." She whispered to herself in realization.

Her heart had skipped a beat when he said that. And she realized, things would never be the same way again when they were just friends.

* * *

**And chapter done. Took me a few hours to write this out. And if you can believe it, more than a quarter of the time put into writing this chapter was just for the last 6 paragraphs alone. Which is around 200-300 words at most. It was hard to figure out what to write for Ash in a way that he wouldn't realize at all were being taken romantically.**

**The fight with Kenny, huh he kinda got shafted there because of all that dialogue between Dawn and Brock eh? But even then, he still got a better end of the stick than Ash did in canon when Buizel got taken out with one Metal Claw. **

**I mean seriously? Steel is bad against Water-Types and when Buizel was wild he took multiple Thunderbolt's from Pikachu and stood strong. The writers need to stop shafting Ash for childish reasons like Kenny having a crush on Dawn.**

**They shaft us Ash fans right along with him. And I don't like being shafted. I'm a sociopath at heart, fear my mighty roar when you mess with my Pokemonz!**

**Anyway, moving on. A few of you asked about Hoenn With Skill. And the truth is, I'm about 2000 words into the next chapter. But the problem with that story is that I mostly have the later plot figured out and very little of the early plot. And the biggest issue is I can't decide on what Pokemon for Ash to catch in it.**

**Three of his team have been decided. Pikachu, Haunter and Treecko are a certain. But the other three are up for grabs. A Feebas or a Vulpix are two maybe's. If any of you have any suggestions I'm willing to listen, just list what Pokemon and why you think they'd fit well with Ash's team or why you think he should catch it.**

**Sadly, suggestions like "Garchomp cuz its fuckin awesome!" Aren't really what I'm looking for though. And will probably not weigh in at all in my decisions except for maybe making me less enthusiastic to add them to the team.**

**And again guys. There's a link to my profile on my profile so if you like to watch streaming feel free to follow me. Every new follower is a big help to me.**

**Anyway, this AN has gone on far too long. So I'll end it here and get back to watching the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl season. I'm at the Lily Of The Valley Conference right now. Good stuff man, the battles are great.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ugh, hey guys. This chapter took way longer than it should have. But seriously, the obscene lack of any good Pearlshipping story makes it hard for me to write this. And then when I try to read Advancedshipping stories to get in the mood for Hoenn With Skill – they always go and pair Dawn with Gary, Paul or hell even Drew a lot of the time. And that's an automatic kill switch for me.**

**Ya know?**

**I'd like it if you guys could hook me up with the best Pearlshipping stories around. But then, a lot of you send me fics to read where the grammar and spelling is terrible and the plots are retarded. I don't even consider my stories good, so sending me stories that are worse is a big no no. No offense.**

**The only thing keeping my Pokemon mood going is listening to AMV's and making plots up in my head. And that can only last me so long.**

**I've decided on Ash catching an Aron in Hoenn With Skill – but I've lost my motivation for Haunter. So I'll probably Oak Ranch Haunter until I'm in the mood for it again.**

**On another note, I let the X/Y anime build up on episodes to watch a bunch of them in a row. And god was I disappointed. Ash is even worse than he was in Black and White. All of a sudden Pikachu can't battle on ice? But what about his battle against Pryce in Johto? Or Brandon's Regice? And he needs help to teach Froakie Quick Attack? Doesn't he have like ten Pokemon who can use it?**

**And even then, he failed at it.**

**Man, Gary and Paul would be ashamed of him. And the series started off so well too. What a pity. Although I wonder what other Pokemon he's gonna get. I'm calling it now, that just like in the games, that Fighting-Type Gym Leader will give Ash one of her Lucario.**

**Anyway remember and tell me about any good Pearlshipping stories you find. I literally haven't read a good one in over six months.**

**And I won't keep you here any longer, this AN has gone on way too long as it is. Keep in mind that this chapter isn't beta'd. But, there shouldn't be many, if any spelling mistakes and few grammar ones.**

**Working The World With Skill**

**Chapter 2**

**Begin!**

* * *

Trainer village, Ash had to admit was a beautiful place. It was a small village built to cater to competitors for the Sinnoh League each season. But even then, buisness was booming.

Trainers could book high-class cabins or hotel rooms to stay in as soon as they collected the eight Gym Badges needed to participated in the Sinnoh League. Some veterans stayed at the village even since the ending of the last league instead of leaving. Training constantly for the next league coming with the next season.

With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash left the small cosy cabin assigned to him and his guests for qualifying to compete.

"Oh yeah.." The raven haired trainer moaned in pleasure as he stretched his arms upwards and felt his back give a satisfying 'pop' sound.

With that done, Ash looked around the area his cabin was in. The ground was covered in grass and lining down both sides of his cabin were other cabins aswell – dozens of them on end.

He walked on, humming contently to himself as the early morning Pidgey chirped above. There were battle fields assigned to trainers to train in if they arrived early like he did. But there would be far too many other competitors lurking around trying to get an upper-hand against their opponents by learning what Pokemon they had and how they battled.

Instead, Ash made his way behind the cabins and entered the forest that was situated a small ways away. Not coming to a stop until he came out of the side of the forest at an empty clearing beside a small lake.

When he came to a stop in the middle of the clearing. Pikachu took that as his cue and the small electric rodent Pokemon jumped down from his position on Ash's shoulder and stood at the ready in front of his trainer.

Ash smiled at Pikachu, before retrieving the five Pokeball's hanging from his belt and releasing the Pokemon within.

In blinding flashes of light, they appeared beside Pikachu in front of him awaiting his commands.

Buizel, arms crossed in his usual cool pose. Twin-tails twitching in anticipation for the harsh training to commence.

Infernape, bipedal and just as tall as Ash. White and brown furred with gleaming golden markings, flame atop his head shimmering with heat and his blue eyes eagerly awaiting orders from his trainer.

Staraptor, crimson eyes steady with his grey and white feathers neatly arranged. Standing proudly and even taller than his trainer. The red colored plumage hanging from the avian Pokemon's head made him look all the more majestic in Ash's eyes.

Torterra, massive and powerful. The continent Pokemon took position behind the rest due to his immense size, gleaming impenetrable green shell, large proud tree on his back and all.

And finally Gible, the smallest and most recent addition to his family of Pokemon. The small blue and red Dragon-type looked around blankly as if he wasn't even paying attention. But Ash knew better, Gible was a bit slow but there was an energetic fun lover behind those eyes that only ever gleamed when with friends or in the excitement of battle.

"Alright guys." Ash began, pacing in front of his Pokemon and his amber eyes serious, "This is it, we're finally here at the Sinnoh League and we're gonna win it all!" He declared, eyes flashing from serious to a shining determination.

There was a collective cry of agreement from his Pokemon, even Gible at the passion in his voice. "We've got just under a month left to train." Ash told them, continuing on, "So before the time is up, I want each of you to have learned the attacks I've chosen for you."

He looked each of his Pokemon in the eye. Smiling as he saw their steely determination to win mirrored back at him within each iris. "Right then, time to pair up!" He said. He lifted a hand and pointed at Pikachu and then Infernape, "Pikachu, since Infernape is gonna be learning ThunderPunch I want you with him." The trainer told his starter Pokemon, "Use a low powered Thunderbolt at his hand and keep it up until Infernape gets a feel for it enough to generate some sparks for the attack himself, got it?" He questioned at the end of his order.

There were no problems it seemed. Pikachu replied by pumping his small yellow paw into the air and replying with a, "Pi Pikachu Pikapi!" And Infernape followed that up with his navy blue fingered hand held in a salute.

When they both bounded off to train with each other, Ash turned his attention to Buizel. The amber eyed trainer pointed off to the lake, "Alright Buizel, Hydro Pump is for the most part just a more powerful version of Water Gun." He told the Water-Type of his team, receiving a few nods in reply, "In that case, I want you to keep firing your Water Gun across the lake and train with it until you can put enough power into the attack for it to become a Hydro Pump attack."

Buizel barely even waited until he was finished relaying his orders before running off to start firing jet after jet of compressed water across the lake. Ash sighed, shaking his head, "So much like Sceptile it's unreal." He lamented with a small chuckle. When Buizel eventually evolved and had enough power to keep up, he was sure he and Sceptile would become great sparring buddies.

With that done, he turned to the last three. Rubbing Staraptor's red plume affectionately he told them, "And you guys, I'll be working with personally."

The 14 year old trainer turned to Staraptor first, "Right buddy, the only thing you're really missing is a long ranged attack so on that note I've decided I want you to learn Hyper Beam." He told the massive bird Pokemon. It was true, Staraptor was nearly the same size his old buddy Pidgeot had been and could probably easily carry Ash on his back with no trouble.

"Raptor!" Staraptor chirped in reply, saluting him with a wing.

Ash chuckled, "You're quite lucky that I've already taught this attack to a few of my older Pokemon so know how to do it already." He said, "The idea is to focus your energy within your beak and compress it as much as you can into a small orb before unleashing it in a devastating beam of power." The amber eyed teen explained.

They could really focus and compress the power into an orb anywhere on their body. But the best place for a bird Pokemon like Staraptor to do it was within the beak.

Done explaining that. He left Staraptor to his own devices for now to start harnessing his power and trying to compress it – Ash himself turned to Torterra the Pokemon in his team with by far the hardest Technique to learn. Especially since Ash had very little idea as to how to go about teaching it to Torterra. There was very little information on learning the attack in his Pokedex. But He'd seen the attack enough times now to get a rough idea on how to do it, and along with the little information he got from his Pokedex he should be able to piece it together.

"Alright Torterra, you're learning Frenzy Plant." Ash stated simply. It wasn't really that simple. No Frenzy Plant was the most powerful of all Grass-type Pokemon attacks. Only extremely well trained and powerful Pokemon could learn it or its other variants in Hydro Cannon or Blast Burn.

The Pokemon learning the attack had to be all of three things. Powerful, experienced and gifted. That was why the likes of Kenny's Empoleon had such a weak version of the attack. The Empoleon was gifted, no doubt there since it actually managed to learn the attack albeit weak as hell. But Kenny had his Empoleon for at most a year, so it wasn't very experienced in using high powered attacks especially since it wasn't very powerful as far as Empoleon went due to it being a Contest Pokemon.

So Torterra's reaction of going wide-eyed and sputtering was quite expected. Ash merely smiled though, "It's fine, I have faith in you." He stated simply.

That got Torterra to look at him wide-eyed next. But Ash pushed forward, "Like with Staraptor learning Hyper Beam the theory behind using Frenzy Plant is your energy." He started, Torterra listening along with rapt attention, "But instead of compressing it, you need to spread the energy out under the ground beneath you and form the vines of the attack with both your energy and willpower." The trainer outlined.

Saying that, Ash reached out and scratched gently behind one of the large spikes jutting out the side of Torterra's head, "I don't expect you to get this quickly buddy, but I've known you since you were a little Turtwig and I believe in you." Ash told his Pokemon.

It was true of course. He had the utmost faith in his Pokemon, all of them. Turtwig came from a similar background to his Bulbasaur and was always battling and protecting Pokemon weaker than him. Ash knew he had the experience, and he definitely had the power for it - his many battles were proof enough of that to Ash. All that remained to be seen was if Torterra had the skill to manifest the attack, and Ash believed he did.

An honest to goodness red flush appeared over Torterra's brown skin and the massive Pokemon looked off to the side bashfully, "Terra.." The Pokemon rumbled happily at Ash's praise.

Finally, Ash turned to Gible who was once again looking at him blankly and the amber eyed trainer had to sigh, "Alright then, let's take it from the top."

And as Gible powered up and fired the orange orb of Draconian energy up into the air. Ash muttered dryly to himself, "At the very least Piplup is hidden away safely back at the cabin."

As expected. It was another dud and the attack puttered out high in the sky before falling way off into the forest. Rather close to the direction his cabin was in actually...

Poor poor Piplup.

* * *

Four hours. Four hours of blissful, sweat inducing, muscle pumping training was all he got with his Pokemon before distractions ensued. At around Ten, Dawn and Brock showed up where he was training and forced him into taking a break. So on that note, Dawn had dragged him off back towards the small shopping district of Trainer Village while Brock offered to watch over his Pokemon while they took a small break before getting back into their training.

Arms crossed behind his head, Ash sighed, "What a waste of time." He grumbled in annoyance, "You do know I could be getting more training in right now don't you?" He asked the blue haired girl walking beside him.

Dawn merely stuck her tongue out at him before pinching her nose with two fingers, "I think you've done enough for now Ash, you smell enough as it is." She replied, "You know when most people say that they're going to train with their Pokemon – they don't train right alongside them and work up more of a sweat than the Pokemon themselves, Pee-yoo." The bluenette commented with a shake of her head.

Ash frowned at the reply. He made sure she wasn't watching as he lifted his arm up and took a quick whiff off his armpit. The amber eyed teen recoiled in slight disgust at the smell. Either way, he shook his head after lowering his arm discreetly once again.

He wasn't much when it came to kata or the like. But he was no slouch in a fight himself, there was a reason after all he was confident enough to swing a punch at Mewtwo and pick a fight with Lucario. Plus, he found it only natural that if his Pokemon were pushing themselves to their limits that he should aswell right alongside them.

"Besides." Dawn interrupted his thoughts. "Don't you like spending time with me?" She asked, demurely poking at pouted lips with a small feminine finger and her deep sapphire blue eyes glazed with wetness.

It was very cute.

Ash sighed, looking away from her. "No, I love spending time with you." He replied, fingering the brim of his cap with a sudden anxiety. Was it just him, or had Dawn began to act a little different since they got here on Lily of the Valley Island?

He shook it off. He'd think on it later. "So why are we here anyway?" Ash questioned abruptly, turning his head back to face Dawn who was smiling brilliantly at him.

She blinked, "You mean you don't remember?" The Coordinator questioned.

Ash frowned at her in puzzlement, "Remember what?" He asked.

Dawn sighed, but then looked back at him suddenly, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh I decided last night that since you're going to win the Sinnoh League and become famous.." She trailed off slightly, before suddenly chirping, "You need a make-over to go with your soon to be fame and infamy."

Ash hadn't really been paying attention truth be told. He'd just been nodding his head along assuming this was another time where she dragged him off shopping and made him carry the bags. That is until what she said finally registered at the back of his mind.

"What?!" The amber eyed trainer shouted, turning to her hastily and waving his hands. "No way Dawn! I will not subject myself to becoming a live dress up doll for you!" He thundered, glaring with all the might he could muster.

That was until he once again saw the cute little demure pout on her face and the watery eyes. And so he gave in and let her have her way. "Fine.." The raven haired trainer groaned. He was never good at denying girls anything unless they were the loud and proud type like Misty or Angie.

"Yay!" Dawn chirped happily, latching onto his arm and dragging him off. Towards his doom and eternal damnation.

He sighed, looking up at the sky in defeat. He should have known this day was going to come. Misty could never get him into being her dress up doll because she was so overbearing when she wanted something. May, well she came close but he'd managed to stutter his excuses and throw Max in the line of fire.

With Misty it was easy to say no. Because she always got so angy and demanding. But May and Dawn always went with the cutesy pouting act when they wanted him to do something. And there was no Max here to throw in the line of fire.

...He should have made Max come to Sinnoh with him. The kid was probably just sitting back at the Petalburg Gym bored out of his mind anyway. There was no way Max would travel Johto with May when Drew was around. The kid did ask him to beat the crap out of the grass haired sissy once upon a time after all.

* * *

Two hours.

Two freaking hours of mind numbing hell. Outfit, after outfit he was forced to try on. And then when they were finally done, Dawn just had to pick out some 'cute' outfits for herself.

Arceus above man. He thought he had some pull with the big guy when he saved his life. What had he done for Arceus to punish him with such torture?

'_I'm onto you big guy...They say you love us all equally, but I'm onto you._'

He drew the line though when she tried to get him to give up wearing a hat and get his hair styled. Small mercy as it was, atleast he thought the outfit looked pretty cool.

Black short boots with blue laces, black cargo jeans tucked into the boots. His torso was covered by a black zipped shirt with white under-shirt and atop his head a plain midnight black outdoors cap.

It was already noon when he finally managed to drag Dawn out of the boutique. And of course, he was the one carrying the bags.

"Never again!" Ash declared vehemently as they walked.

Dawn giggled beside him, her blue eyes alight with amusement, "C'mon Ash, don't be so dramatic." The bluenette replied, "It wasn't that bad."

Ash snorted, "Yeah it was." He glared at his female travelling companion in annoyance, "I seriously thought I was in another Darkrai induced nightmare – that is until I realized even Darkrai couldn't come up with such a horrifying dream."

Let it never be said that he remotely enjoyed shopping with a female. Everything to do with shopping became a thousand times more complicated and trying when they tagged along.

Dawn merely giggled again, before jogging a bit ahead of him and performing a little spin, "So what did you think?" She asked suddenly, "Did that outfits I buy look good on me?" The Coordinator inquired, eyes searching his face and a light flush across her cheeks.

Ash snorted once again as he walked past her and she fell in line with him again, "Dawn, you look great in just about anything." The amber eyed trainer replied bluntly, "Asking me again every time you buy a new outfit isn't going to change that."

She bought some new article of clothing every few days or so after all, literally. It was a good thing they were as good as they were in their chosen professions because the clothes she liked to buy were expensive as hell.

No joke. The new outfit he just bought in accordance with her wishes was a lot less extravagant than the ones she bought. And even then, this outfit costed more than a bag of evolution stones. Considering there were nine evolution stones per bag and they averaged at 2100 Pokedollars, that was a lot of money just to spend on one outfit.

The raven haired trainer didn't think he'd ever spent that much money on clothes before in his life. Trust Dawn to drag him into a boutique that imported all their clothing from the Kalos Region – the fashion center of the world.

Dawn's face flushed a deeper shade of red despite herself. And the bluenette sighed as she saw Ash barely even blink at the compliment he gave her. "Seriously Ash?" She groaned, palming her forehead in annoyance, "You'd be so good at this stuff if you weren't so damn dense."

He was never shy with the compliments at the very least, and he always seemed to know the right thing to say to lift her spirits. She blamed Brock, if he wasn't so obsessed with hitting on every good looking girl with a pulse – Ash would probably have realized that he was actually naturally flirting.

As it was, he'd been travelling with Brock since before he started puberty and had probably thought that the breeder's crazy attempts at wooing girls was how flirting went. And with how Brock usually ended up, Dawn supposed she couldn't exactly blame Ash for being so dense.

"Good at what?" Ash questioned, blinking in puzzlement.

Dawn sighed again, then she allowed a small smile to spread over her pretty face and she bumped her shoulder gently against his, "No need to worry Ash." She said, her voice filled with both sympathy and amusement, "When the time comes I'll teach you all you need to know." She promised, gleaming white teeth showing through her now wide smile.

With that said, the blue haired Coordinator began to skip ahead of him happily.

The innuendo flew right over Ash's head. And the raven haired trainer watched her pull ahead with a blank expression, "...Teach me what though?" He questioned himself.

His eyes were drawn downwards from her back to the swaying pink mini-skirt she was wearing. He let the question rest for now, he atleast had something appealing to look at while they walked.

* * *

Night had fallen, and the clearing was almost silent. The majority of his Pokemon had been returned to their Pokeballs for now to rest. They'd worked hard all day so they deserved a good nights rest before they continued again tomorrow.

There were two of his Pokemon still out though. Pikachu on one side of the clearing, and Infernape on the other. Ash stood off to the side, observing them both. It was always good to get a view from outside the battle – that way he could easier see what they needed to work on.

The practice battle kicked off with Pikachu making the first move. The small Electric-Type Pokemon blurred forward, far to fast for the un-trained eye to keep up with. Thankfully for Ash, he'd been battling with Pikachu for years and so could track the movements of his partner, even if barely.

In less than a second, Pikachu cleared the distance between himself and Infernape and came blitzing out of a spin at the dual Fire and Fighting-type with his tail glowing wit a blinding, silvery white energy.

With lightning fast reflexes, Infernape intercepted the Iron Tail attack with one of his fists imbued with the power of Mach Punch. Steel and Fighting attacks clashed and a small shockwave blasted through the clearing, severing leaves from trees and ruffling Ash's hair.

Infernape had his other imbued with the power of a Mach Punch attack. But had no chance to utilize his other arm because Pikachu proved to be stronger in a show of physical prowess and sent Infernape skidding back, his feet digging deep gouges in the ground below as he pushed with all his might to keep his balance.

Pikachu wasn't about to left his opponent escape unscathed though and his body exploded with a brilliant yellow aura of electricity, before letting loose massive arc of it in a Thunderbolt attack straight towards Infernape.

The attack was dodged with simian agileness as Infernape cart-wheeled off to the side. The ground were Infernape previously stood was rent asunder by the power of the Thunderbolt attack and left behind a charred black pot-hole equal in circumference to the arc of electricity.

Pikachu, still in mid-air was left open to attack. And Infernape took his chance. With a quick opening of the mouth, and a deep breath Infernape launched a corona of fire straight towards Pikachu.

When the Flamethrower attack closed in on its target. Pikachu flipped forward and struck down with another Iron Tail attack, cleaving the corona of flames in half and allowing them to harmlessly pass him by.

Landing on the ground, Pikachu with his tail singed slightly from the heat of the attack blitzed forward faster than ever, a silvery-white trail of energy escaping from behind him.

With his speed augmented by the Quick Attack, Infernape couldn't react in time to dodge or intercept the attack and was speared harshly in the stomach by Pikachu's full body tackle.

Spittle escaped from Infernape's mouth and the fire monkey gasped in pain as he was sent bouncing across the floor of the clearing, painfully.

"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu chanted the mantra as he followed up with his most powerful attack. Intending to end the battle right there and then as he blitzed forward with an aura of crackling, yellow electricity that encompassed his body ten times over.

Infernape, coming out of his last bounce across the clearing used it to his advantage and as he was coming down punched his way straight through the ground and dug his way to safety under the earth.

Just in time as not even a second later did Pikachu pass right over the hole he escaped into with his Volt Tackle before skidding to a halt as his target escaped.

There was no time to react as the earth beside the hole splintered and Infernape shot upwards with a Mach Punch uppercut that landed straight and true under Pikachu's cheek.

"Pika!" The electric rodent cried in pain. But gave as good as he got, he may have taken a powerful attack from Infernape's fist but even as he was hit and sent soaring he still managed to clip Infernape's shoulder with a hastily performed Iron Tail attack.

They landed at opposite sides of the clearing again, using the momentum they took from the attacks to their advantages. Although, not without consequence. Pikachu panted deeply on all fours, the bottom half of his face purpling from bruising that showed even through his yellow fur. And Infernape's right arm limp from the shoulder down thanks to Pikachu striking it straight on the bone.

Whatever pain they were feeling though, Ash noted that they both ignored it well. Because a second later they were at it again, Pikachu's body exploding with electricity as he released another Thunderbolt and Infernape responding in kind by firing another Flamethrower attack.

The massive arc of electricity met the corona of flames head on. They clashed, pushing against each other for dominance but were far too close in strength for one to over power the other and thus exploded powerful mid-air, filling the clearing with thick black smoke.

"Nape!"

"Pika pika pka pika pika!"

Ash heard the respective cries of his Pokemon before a resounding 'BOOM' exploded through the clearing and blew the entire smokescreen away.

Pikachu's body once again coated in the aura of Volt Tackle clashed against Infernape in the shape of a flaming wheel, pushing against each other for dominance.

Volt Tackle and Flame Wheel pushed against each other seeking to overpower the other. But finally, after a few moment the fire faltered and Pikachu pushed through, winning the clash.

The flaming shield encompassing Infernape's body was cleaved straight through and dispersed. And Pikachu's attack struck Infernape head on. The fully evolved form of Chimchar screeched in pain before he was launched straight into the ground.

The earth cratered beneath Infernape from the force of his landing, and the Fire-type twitched erratically as electrical discharge surged throughout his body.

Bones rattled from the impact, and the white fur on his chest seared and matted. Infernape still wasn't willing to give up. On shaky legs, the fully evolved Pokemon struggled to his feet from the crater he as blasted into.

And all the while, Pikachu biting his lip in pain due to the backlash from Volt Tackle watched with calm, unwavering confidence.

The discharge coursing throughout and over Infernape's body slowly stilled to a stop, and sparks began to ignite around his clenched fist.

But before Infernape could launch into another attack, Ash clapped his hands once and loudly. "That's enough guys." He called out to them.

There was a collective sigh between the two Pokemon and then they relaxed. Pikachu's black eyes turning soft as they took in his team-mate and Infernape allowing the beginnings of the ThunderPunch to fade and falling to one knee.

Both panted deeply, exhaustion from both the battle and training all day settling in. Ash had to admit, they both looked a little worse for wear but nonetheless he smiled. "That was great you two." He praised them, walking over and taking a seat in front of them both, "I saw exactly what we have to work on now!" The amber eyed teen declared, smiling with pride.

"Pi, pikachu Pikapi?" Pikachu said, cocking his small yellow head to the side. Beside him, Infernape nodded eagerly and pumped his fist into the air despite his position on one knee.

Ash laughed. He wasn't able to understand the way Pokemon spoke. But he was so close to his Pokemon that he could figure out the general meaning behind what they were saying. Like 'Pikapi' for instance, that was Pikachu saying his name or the equivalent of it in Pokespeech.

As for what they were saying. Well, he got the feeling that they were asking what he thought they should work on. So, Ash decided to tell them that. "I was right in deciding that we needed to teach Pikachu how to use damage-reducing moves like Reflect and Light Screen." He began, pointing at his first Pokemon, "Infernape only managed to land one clean blow against you Pikachu, despite that though it did quite a bit of damage." The trainer pointed out.

Pikachu sighed, eyes appearing downcast but nodded in reply to what Ash was saying. Pikachu knew that ofcourse, despite all their training in physical aspects they still hadn't managed to work past his species fragility. His speed was off the charts, and his physical strength was unreal for a Pokemon his size – being able to toss a fully grown Milotic as if it were a tiny little Ekans.

There was an instant answer to that problem. But he wasn't willing to submit to that just yet, Pikachu would only ever consent to becoming a Raichu when his Pikapi desperately needed him to and not a second before.

With Pikachu's evaluation done, Ash turned to Infernape who was still eagerly awaiting what they were to train him in next. "You were great as always Infernape, but despite your insane reflexes you still couldn't keep up with Pikachu's speed and you were overpowered a bit too easily when you clashed your Mach Punch against Pikachu's Iron Tail attack." Ash explained to his Pokemon.

"Nape, nape!" Infernape replied, nodding his fiery head in agreement.

So here's what we're gonna do." Ash continued with a grin, "You've got Thunderpunch nearly done, so once your done with that and Flare Blitz well start training you to be faster and get your physical strength up to par so nobody can overpower you like Pikachu did again." He explained. It was just a general outline, because it takes quite a bit of unorthodox training to get physical strength the way Pikachu did. And the same way wouldn't work for Infernape since he was a Fire-type and most of Pikachu's physical strength was gained training under water.

Infernape nodded eagerly once again and Ash's grin stretched a tad, "Right then." He said, standing up and pulling out Infernape's Pokeball, "You take a nice long rest, trust me you're gonna need it." And with that Infernape was struck by the red beam from the Pokeball and sucked inside.

After clipping the Pokeball back onto his belt beside the others, he picked up Pikachu and cradled the small Pokemon within his arms gently, "C'mon buddy, let's me n' you go take a nice warm bath and then hit the sack." He said softly to the Pokemon in his arms.

"Chaaa..." Pikachu moaned contently at the thought of the nice warm water soothing his aching muscles and the feather soft bed that awaited straight after.

* * *

**Aaand Done! Hope you guys enjoyed it. Even if it was kinda short in comparison with my regular chapters – but in my defense this was just a filler chapter for the most part.**

**The outfit I gave Ash is the one I designed for my character in the X/Y games so head on over to Serebi and you'll be able to get pictures of each article of clothing.**

**Got nothing much else to say. So I'll leave this off here. Later guys, hope you enjoyed it and hopefully I can get my muse to flare up better than ever soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter was hard to get out. Thankfully now we're straight into the tournament arc though so they should be a lot easier to write from here on.**

**You know what I've noticed lately guys? All the people who seem to think canon Red is the same as in the games. Seriously man, Red didn't even get 50 registered Pokemon in his Pokedex – never mind complete the damn thing.**

**Since they Red fanboys have got a major hard on for his game counterpart. Does that also mean that the Ash from my Yellow version is canon aswell? Because I had all 151 original Pokemon in it and was champion.**

**Honestly, the majority of the Red fanboys can't even get his original team of 6 right. How sad is that? So just remember people, when you see somebody ragging on Ash and spouting bullshit about Red – remember that he never completed the Pokedex, he never defeated a champion and took over as champion master of a region and he never became a Pokemon Master.**

**I'll give credit where it's due in that he caught both Mewtwo and Deoxys in canon. And he's pretty good as a trainer in the manga, but this stone cold badass Red that everybody seems to jizz over isn't even a real character.**

**Also, people! Get sending me good Pearlshipping links or write some of your own. I challenge thee!**

**But anyway, I've got nothing else to say so I'll let you guys get on with this.**

**Working The World With Skill**

**Chapter 3**

**Go!**

* * *

The month of training passed by quickly, and before Ash knew it he was standing opposite his opponent of the screening round with a Pokeball in hand.

There weren't many fans in the stadium. Seeing as most of them were attending matches of the crowd favourites – and he just simply wasn't one of them. Maybe in Kanto he would be, but over here in Sinnoh he wasn't well known at all.

That suited Ash just fine. They would all know his name soon enough.

"Trainers, reveal your Pokemon!" The referee suited in a yellow long sleeved shirt and black shorts ordered, swishing both his green and red flag downwards.

His opponent, a large burly man in a karate gi allowed his Pokemon to escape its Pokeball in a burst of silvery white light. The light formed and condensed into the humanoid, overly muscular form of a large four armed Machamp, punching its fists together.

Machamp was a bipedal humanoid Pokémon with four well-muscled arms. Its skin was bluish gray in color, and it had crimson red eyes with pale yellow lips. On its head there were three brown ridges right above its eyes. It had two arms on each side of its body: a pair located in the normal position, and another pair directly above that attached on the top of the shoulders. It wore legless black tights along with a golden power-save belt. Its legs were bulky and muscled to the extreme and its feet had two toes each.

Gah, he wished that thing wouldn't flex directly in front of him. Those rippling muscles and tight spandex did _not_ go well together. Thank God for small mercies that he saw no bulge.

He'd probably have tried to claw his own eyes out if that were the case.

Vomit inducing as the sight was, Ash revealed his own Pokemon at nearly the exact same time. Small and bipedal, the Pokemon had bluish fur at the top half of its body and yellow near from the underbelly downwards. Long snouted, its eyes were near enough fully closed and the Pokemon had four red spots on its back.

"Let's do this Cyndaquil!" Ash called to his Pokemon.

"Cynda!" Was the enthusiastic reply he got, along with the four spots along Cyndaquil's back erupting with fire that cascaded down the small Pokemon's back like a protective coating.

Good, it seemed Cyndaquil wasn't acting like his usual lazy self. He seemed fired up for this. Possibly because he hadn't used the little guy in an official battle since the end of his Johto journey.

Huh, damn he was kind of neglectful to his Pokemon wasn't he?

His opponent, Raymond if Ash remembered right, made the first move. "This should be quick." The burly man commented, "Machamp attack with Karate Chop!"

With great lumbering steps. Machomp broke into a run and sprinted right for Cyndaquil, all four arms glowing a bright silvery white up to the elbow.

"Let it get close Cyndaquil, then dodge around its attacks." Ash ordered calmly in response as the lumbering giant closed in on Cyndaquil.

Cyndaquil didn't deign to reply to him this time. But Ash knew he heard him regardless, it was just the way Cyndaquil was.

Upon reaching Cyndaquil, Machamp swung down one glowing arm. Cyndaquil replied by nimbly jumping back a small step and evading the swing. Not to be outdone, Machamp countered by following up with its two bottom arms.

Cyndaquil jumped back into his previous position, dodging in between both arms and then jumped straight up evading the forth arm that was swung downwards intent on smashing the small Fire-Types skull.

The power behind the final Karate Chop and the size difference caused Machamp to over extend its attack and the large Fighting-Type Pokemon barely stopped itself from landing flat on its face.

Just the opportunity Ash was waiting for.

"Flamethrower." The raven haired trainer ordered.

In the air above Machamp's head, Cyndaquil opened his mouth and let loose a spiralling torrent of searing hot flames.

The flames crashed into the large Pokemon's back and the force behind them drove Machamp to its knees, all the while the hot flames seared into its back.

Machamp roared in pain. Raymond cursed, "Get rid of it with Cross Chop!" He bellowed loudly, clenching his fists.

Despite the pain it was no doubt feeling, the Machamp managed to shakily push itself to its feet and whirled around, all four arms crossed behind each other and glowing with a radiant silver energy.

"Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted sharply in reply.

Like a rocket, Machamp shot forth spearing through the flames and cleaving them its way through with pure physical strength alone in its bid to reach Cyndaquil. Jumping, Machamp continued onwards intent on laying Cyndaquil out with a full powered Cross Chop barrage.

But upon contact, Cyndaquil seemingly winked out of existence. And then re-appeared, small body covered in a white aura spearing straight into Machamp's stomach.

Spittle flew from its mouth, and Machamp crashed into the battle field harshly. The upper part of the Pokemon's back was charred black in a few spots and blood freely leaked from the wound.

Still though, the massive humanoid Pokemon rose. Shakily as it was, the Fighting-Type Pokemon managed to push itself into a kneeling position.

That Flamethrower alone was highly effective, but Aerial Ace seemed to have done quite a bit of damage, Ash noted. Good, despite being in his bottom stage Cyndaquil still had quite a bit of power behind him.

And then Cyndaquil landed and erupted entirely with bright silvery white light. His body grew in size, elongated and another fire erupted from the back of the Pokemon's head.

Never mind then. Previous statements amended.

And then the light died down. "Quilava!" The newly evolved Pokemon declared.

His Pokedex was out in a flash. He didn't really know much about Quilava as a species after all, "_Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon, and the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Quilava intimidates foes with its flame's heat, and when ready to battle, the fire burns with more strength_." His Pokedex rattled off.

He noted with some satisfaction that the attack Eruption had made its way into his newly evolved Quilava's move pool. Brilliant, but he'd put that on the back burner for now. He hadn't practiced with it enough to work it into his strategy for this match.

No, better to go with the rather surprising move Quilava had learned as a Cyndaquil during his time apart from Ash.

Raymond gaped, Machamp right alongside him. And Ash grinned in delight, thumbing his nose in excitement, "Way to go Quilava!" The amber eyed teen shouted, pumping a fist into the air, "Now let's go for the win right now! Extrasensory!" He ordered.

Machamp hadn't even fully gotten to its feet before Quilava was on the offensive once again. His eyes lit up with golden energy and from his mouth Quilava let loose a large multi-colored crescent beam.

The Phsychic-Type attack washed over Machamp before it could react and was immobilized entirely. Once, twice, three times Quilava lifted Machamp into the air and then smashed down into the ground painfully before Ash issued his next command, "Now finish it up with Flame Wheel!"

"Machamp, Hyper Beam!" Raymond issued, desperation lining his voice.

Purple energy flashed all around Machamp's open mouth, condensing together and forming a small orb of deadly energy. Machamp couldn't move because of the Psychic energy immobilizing its body but it could still launch long ranged attacks from within its body.

To bad though, that Quilava put an end to that before the attack was even fully formed. With a quick jerk of his head upwards, Quilava put an end to his Extrasensory attack and ended up slinging Machamp up into the air.

By the time Machamp righted itself mid-air and turned to face Quilava. It was already far too late. Like a speeding train, Quilava enveloped in a massive wheel of deadly orange red flames plowed straight into Machamp's chest.

The collision caused the hastily powered Hyper Beam to explode in Machamps face. And with the combined damage from the exploding Hyper Beam and Flame Wheel Machamp fell the last few feet of its drop limply.

Burned and bruised, it did not get back up.

"Machamp is unable to battle, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" The referee declared, swishing his red flag downwards in Machamp's direction.

Shoulders slumped in defeat, Raymond returned Machamp without a word and left. Ash himself knelt down and patted his newly evolved Quilava affectionately when he padded over to the Trainer, "Good job buddy." The raven haired trainer praised, "Take a nice long rest, you deserve it seeing as you done better than I could have ever hoped in this battle." And with that said, he lifted Quilava's Pokeball and returned him within a beam of red light.

Smirk proudly adorning his face, Ash like Raymond turned on his heels and left the battlefield to go meet up with his friends. After all, he was done for now. He only had to win that one match to make it through to the Preliminary Rounds of the Sinnoh League.

* * *

Screening battle over and done with. Ash met up with his two travelling companion at Lil Litleo's, a nice little restaurant situated on the street just a few minutes walk away from the Battle Stadiums. The restaurant was named after a Pokemon native to the Kalos Region – Ash was a bit put out that he'd never even heard of it before asking the owner during his month of training when he stepped in for a quick bite to eat.

It didn't take him long to find Brock and Dawn. Seeing as they were sitting at one of the outdoor tables. He couldn't help a grin tugging at his lips when he saw that they had already ordered for him as well. It was nice having friends that knew him so well they could order for him – and correctly at that.

He took a seat directly beside Dawn, placing him opposite Brock and facing the older teen. While down below the table, Pikachu and Piplup chattered and ate from two bowls filled with some of Brock's special Pokemon food.

"So how'd I do?" He questioned them as he sat down, plucking a fry from his plate. His grin was positively gleeful, "Did I awe you with my magnificent Trainer skills?" He questioned, voice laced with amusement.

"As humble as ever I see." Brock noted dryly. "But I gotta admit, you did great during that battle." The breeder conceded.

"Mmmhmm!" Dawn hummed in agreement, smiling brilliantly and nodding her head. "The best part was when your Cyndaquil evolved." The blunette piped in, "I think this is the first time I've seen a Pokemon actually evolve when they're already dominating the battle; it's usually a 'snatch victory from the jaws of defeat' kind of event."

His grin, turned into a full blown smirk. "Well, it's to be expected I suppose." The amber eyed trainer conceded, nodding his head as if in agreement with something, "I'm just that damn good." He boasted, puffing his chest out in an overly proud manner.

Dawn flicked him on the nose, rolling her eyes. "Now now, don't go getting a big head on me." She replied, playfully wagging a finger in his face, "If your head gets any more inflated you may just end up floating away on us." The coordinator teased.

He opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a loud cry of, "Get out of my way if ya' don't wanna get fined!"

Oh great. _Him_ again. Ash groaned internally, he better not come crashing into him once again because damn was it annoying.

The rushed words, the over excited shouting and the rambling about fining somebody left him with no doubt about who it was. Ash sighed, swivelling slightly to the side in his seat just in time for a tall, skinny blonde wearing grey slacks and an orange and white jacket to skid to a stop in front of him, "Ash you'll never believe what I just saw!" The teen shouted loudly, waving his fist in the air erratically and tugging at his green scarf with the other hand.

"Hey Barry how was your screening match?" Dawn questioned him. Interrupting his over excited rambling.

Barry automatically turned his head to reply, flashing the blue haired girl a thumbs up, "Great! The guy had no idea what he was getting into and I smoked him with Empoleon before he even knew what was going on." The blonde teen boasted. "Gaah!" He suddenly screamed, gripping his hair as if in frustration, "Don't distract me Dawn or I'll fine you! I've got something I really need to tell Ash!"

There was a collective eye roll shared between the three of them, but Ash humoured him anyway. "What is it Barry?" Ash asked, waving his hand at him as if to say 'hurry it up'.

Barry's head jerked towards Ash and the teen screamed again. Random passers-bys jumped in fright at the sudden sound and looked at him oddly, but the blonde haired teen wasn't paying attention to them, "I just saw a guy take out his opponents Pokemon in less than twenty seconds using a Darkrai!" Barry declared, loudly as was the norm for him.

Ash's eyes widened. A Darkrai? Man, talk about some stiff competition this year. Still though, unveiling his legendary Pokemon so early? Was the guy really so self assured in his win that he felt no problem in letting everyone know about his most powerful Pokemon off the bat?

Was he just arrogant in his usage of the Legendary nightmare inducing Pokemon? Or did he have something else up his sleeve? A secret weapon maybe? Like possibly another Legendary?

Ash didn't know what to think on that matter. But he wasn't scared in the slightest. In fact instead he felt a thrum of excitement in his veins. The tougher the battle, the more he and his Pokemon got into it. And just one legendary wasn't anything to be scared about, especially one of the low tier ones like Darkrai. They could be beaten one on one, the two wins he scored over legendaries back during his battles throughout the Battle Frontier was proof of that.

It wasn't like it was a Palkia or Rayquaza or something. Then he might have panicked a bit.

The thoughts on such strong opponents led him to thinking about his conversation with Professor Oak the previous night when he was rotating his team around for the upcoming screening match and then preliminaries right after

* * *

"_Got it Professor." Ash said, retrieving the final Pokeball from the transporter and holding it up to the screen to show the older man._

_Professor Oak nodded in delight, "Splendid, Splendid." He replied, "I'm really looking forward to watching your battles on the television, I'm sure you'll do great." The grey haired man told him._

_Ash smiled, "Thanks Professor." He replied, "That's all I really needed you for, so I'll be going now." The raven haired teen finished, lifting his hand and attempting to hang up the video phone._

_Before he could though, Professor Oak spoke up once again, "Ah, Ash there was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about." He interrupted._

_When he looked back at the screen, he noticed that Professor Oak was now holding two objects in his hands. One looked to be a necklace with a blue orb hanging at the center and containing an odd symbol within and in the other hand a bracelet that held a similar, but smaller orb which was green in color instead of blue._

"_Yeah?" The raven haired trainer asked, curiosity plaguing his eyes._

_The older man held up both objects for him to see better, "I received these objects from an associate of mine called Professor Sycamore – a man studying the theory of Mega Evolution in the Kalos Region." Oak replied._

_Ash blinked. Mega Evolution, what the hell was that? "I'm sorry Professor, but what?" He asked in confusion._

"_Mega Evolution is the theory that some Pokemon have the ability to temporarily evolve past their final forms." The Kanto Region Professor explained._

_Wow. Ash didn't know what to say to that, it was pretty damn awesome sounding. Still though, "What does this have to do with me?" Ash asked._

"_Aha, now we're getting somewhere!" Professor Oak declared, smiling in excitement, "It is said that Mega Evolution can only be triggered by a fully evolved Pokemon that shared a close bond with its trainer and had the Mega Stone needed to advance to its next form." He went on to explain._

_Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah I understand Professor, but again how does this relate to me?" If Pikachu ever evolved into Raichu, they could probably do it. But that day was a long ways off._

_The good Professor's smile stretched, shaking the large blue stone in his hand, "You see Ash, this Mega Stone goes by the name of Charizardite and it is used to make a Charizard evolve into its Mega Form – Professor Sycamore sent it to me because he believed I would have a much easier time finding a Trainer with a deep enough bond to his Charizard to trigger the evolution." The Pallet Town Professor explained further. It made sense in a way, since there was bound to be far more Trainers with Charizard's in Kanto than in Kalos._

_His amber eyes widened in complete and utter shock. He choked slightly on his own syliva, "What!?" He shouted loudly, such was his shock._

_Oak nodded, "Yes, it's true." He said, as if to confirm any doubts Ash had, "You share a deep bond with all of your Pokemon, so I am sure you will be able to manage it."_

_Before Ash could shake off his shock and reply, Professor Oak continued, "I'll have these delivered straight to you, young man." He told Ash, "When you get them, make sure to send for Charizard – I'll be eagerly awaiting to see your Charizard performing Mega Evolution during the Sinnoh League." And with that, the video feed cut off._

_Ash wasn't sure what to feel as he stared at the blank monitor. There was excitement of course, both to try out the Mega Evolution thing and to see his old buddy Charizard. But should he really be happy being given a hand out like that?_

_Did he really want to become some sort of sell out? No, he shook his head vehemently. Charizard trained day in, day out at the Charicific Valley – if their bond was strong enough for Charizard to Mega Evolve then it just proved they deserved it. It wasn't something that would just _happen_, like tossing a stone at a newly evolved Pikachu to make it evolve again, Charizard would need to want to evolve again, have the drive to grow stronger than his current body would allow. That wasn't common, despite what most would think._

_On a less serious note, he wondered idly, just how awesome Mega Charizard would look, and how much stronger he would he become. That was a bit of a scary thought, actually, since Charizard had already reached the level of power and strength needed to defeat a Legendary Pokemon in a 1 on 1 battle._

* * *

"No way!" Brock gasped in shock, breaking Ash from his thoughts. "He has an honest to goodness Darkrai?"

"Yeah!" Barry shouted, "Damn, somebody should fine that guy! Using a Legendary Pokemon, isn't that like cheating or something?" He continued to rave.

"Sorry!" Dawn suddenly blurted, reaching over and grabbing Ash's arm, "I just forgot we totally have something we need to do!" And then with a mighty tug, she dragged Ash along with her and ran away from the area.

"Wha-?" Ash gasped, "Dawn!" But she ignored him dragging the raven haired teen along behind her all the way.

Brock watched them go, and then turned his attention back to the empty plates on the table and the still raving and ranting Barry, '_Damn it guys_, _You couldn't take me along as well_.' He thought dejectedly.

Not only did he get left with the bill, he had to be the one to indulge Barry's shouting or else he'd just be much worse later. Oh well, he would probably have broken one of the sacred rules of the Bro Code if he tagged along and got in the middle of whatever Dawn was planning for Ash.

Heh, maybe the dense teen would finally start putting his female wooing skills to the test? One could hope at least.

* * *

"So what's the malfunction?" Ash asked when they finally came to a stop.

He cocked an eyebrow when he noticed her shiver slightly. Was she cold or something? "Ugh, I caught Conway creeping around in the corner of my vision." The bluenette finally replied.

And suddenly his annoyance with her disappeared. He couldn't really blame her, Conway was as damn creepy as they came. And he practically stalked Dawn like some kind of rapist or something, the innuendo he always spouted at her didn't really help with the image he had going for him.

That wasn't really fair to Conway. He was a nice enough guy, and he meant well but he really did give off the stalker-rapist vibes at times. And his seeming obsession with Dawn made Ash leery of leaving her alone anywhere near the guy.

Better safe than story he supposed.

"Ah." Ash replied in realization. He patted her shoulder sympathetically, "If he was stalking me, I'd probably run away as well." Good thinking on Dawn's part to drag along a portable meat shield on such short notice.

Kudos to her.

"So how are you feeling?" The bluenette asked, changing the subject abruptly. He couldn't blame her, "Excited since you've made it through to the Preliminary Rounds?" She questioned further.

Ash couldn't say he wasn't. Only the top 64 Trainers would be going through to the Preliminaries. And then he'd need to win three matches in a row to make his way to the Victory Tournament where the top 8 Trainers would be matched up and battle it out.

"Damn right." He replied. What else could he say? He wasn't nervous in the least, more excited than anything. If they got put out early it just meant they weren't good enough yet, but he had faith his Pokemon were strong enough to take him all the way to the top.

Speaking of Pokemon. Ash noticed he didn't feel the usual comforting weight of his partner sitting atop his shoulder. "Shit!" He cursed.

Dawn blinked, "What?" She questioned.

Ash sighed, "I forgot to grab Pikachu back at the restaurant." He replied.

Dawn giggled. Noticing that she was in the same predicament and had forgotten to grab Piplup in her dash away from the approaching Conway. "No need to worry, both Pikachu and Piplup will come running when they want us." She stated.

Ash rolled his eyes, "When you say that, that's when I worry the most. I saw a full bottle of ketchup on every table, it could be days before I see him again." Was his response, another grin tugging at his lips despite himself.

Dawn pouted, "Seriously, stop quoting my mom."

Ash shook his head in amusement, "So where are we going?" He asked, changing the subject.

Dawn raised an eyebrow, "Well I'm going back to our cabin to relax." She replied, "I don't know about you though." The blue haired Coordinator pointed out.

Ash scratched his chin in thought, "Well, I've got a good few hours before I need to head to the main stadium for the Preliminary Match ups." The amber eyed teen said, "So I suppose I'll get some last minute Training in."

He was quite surprised when Dawn leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. He blinked, face flushing slightly as he looked at her, "What was that for?" He asked.

Dawn, face flushed even darker than his own had a small smile tugging at her lips as well, "A good luck charm." Was all she said before turning and continuing on her way towards their cabin.

Ash watched her go, eyes drawn to her skirt bouncing back and forth from the skip in her step, and then consequently a little higher at her swaying hips. Smile stretching a bit as he touched his cheek with one hand. '_Talk about confidence in herself_.' He mused.

"Hey Dawn!" He shouted, suddenly remembering about Pikachu, "When Brock gets back to the cabin with Pikachu wanna send'm on over to where I Train?"

"Sure, no need to worry!" She shouted back without even turning to face him.

He hated to see her go. But he sure did love to watch her leave. It wasn't hard to see why Conway was so obsessed with the girl. She had a lot of good qualities.

* * *

Dawn stood beside Brock in the stands. Clapping along with the many fans as the top 64 participants made their way onto the field of the stadium. Each one with a Pokemon accompanying them.

She whooped and cheered loudly as her blue eyes caught sight of Ash walking confidently in the middle of the pack. Pikachu hanging from his shoulder and making him stand out from the rest who just had Pokemon walking beside them.

Bright lights illuminated the entire stadium. Beams of orange light moving from side to side and shooting high up into the sky, Wailord and Mantine blimps flying overhead filled to the brim with advertisements and firework after firework being set off.

It was truly an exciting event.

"This is really great!" Dawn shouted over the noisy crowd.

Brock laughed in reply, "I forgot this is your first time being at the opening ceremony of a League." The brown haired breeder shouted back, "You shoulda' seen the excitement at the Indigo Plateau when Moltres showed up!"

Dawn laughed, she could scarcely imagine the beautiful Legendary Pokemon just randomly appearing because Team Rocket stole some of its fire. Brock had made sure to fill her in on what League Conference's were like exactly, but it never prepared her for this.

Contests and the Grand Festival pulled in large crowds. But nothing like this, there had to be at least a hundred thousand fans littering the stands and cheering their hearts out.

Two torch runners stood beside the flame pot. And together they lit it, along a large bonfire to roar into existence and tower above the stadium.

"_**And with the lighting of the Sinnoh League flame – the Lily Of The Valley Conference is officially under way**_!" The MC declared, his voice deep and echoing around the entire stadium.

The fireworks above exploded with a vengeance and Dawn couldn't keep the grin off her face as she sat down in her seat and pulled Piplup into her lap.

Brock sat down beside her and grinned at her, "It can get really intense, eh?" He prodded. "Let's just hope it doesn't go to Ash's head."

Dawn snorted, "I doubt there's much room left in that head of his." She quipped back in amusement.

They both laughed loudly. There was no doubt about it, Ash was confident to near the point of arrogance. That was just how much faith he had in himself and his Pokemon. It would be annoying if it wasn't so damn endearing.

* * *

As the crowd roared with screaming fans, and the fireworks erupted with mighty explosive bangs above. Ash smiled in anticipation, "It's finally happening buddy." He said to the Pokemon on his shoulder.

"Pi pi Pikapi!" The little Electric-Type rodent Pokemon replied pumping a small yellow fist.

Ash chuckled. Reaching up, he rubbed one of Pikachu's cheeks gently as his eyes panned over the entire stadium. His amber eyes locked on a compartment above the stands where he could quite clearly see the form of a small old man with a bushy white beard and a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and wearing all black, "Check it out." He said to his Pokemon, pointing at them, "It's Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia."

While looking up at them. His eyes actually met hers and she smiled at him, nodding her in congratulations for having come this far.

Ash merely smirked up at her and gave her a nod of his own before turning his attention elsewhere. His eyes panned over the other 63 competitors in the stadium, searching for people he knew personally. It didn't take much to find them, they were all stationed quite close to him. Nando, Conway, Barry and Paul looking as cold as ever stared up at the massive screen in front of them all.

He didn't see the guy with the Darkrai anywhere though, dang. He wanted to get a good look at the guy, but oh well.

He turned his own attention back to the massive screen as he heard the MC start speaking up again, "_**Now**_,_** it's time to unveil the Lily Of The Valley Conference's first round Match ups**_." He began, his voice reverberating around the entire stadium, "_**So...Here they are**_!" He declared.

With a flourish of color, a multitude of faces appeared on the screen. Each two paired together. His own face was near the very top, and he couldn't help the smirk that began to stretch across his face.

His first opponent in the preliminaries, was Conway.

"Lucky us." He commented to Pikachu, still grinning in excitement, "We got somebody strong right off the bat." And it was true. Despite his questionable habits, Conway was a very good Trainer who had some really tough Pokemon. Ash would need to pick his team for this battle carefully because there was a very real chance Conway could beat him.

He couldn't say he wasn't looking forward to it though.

His amber eyes met Conway's glinting gasses through the crowd. And they shared a pair of smirks with each other.

'_Good luck Conway_, _Just because your kind of a friend doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you_.' Ash thought with relish.

Conway, Nando, Barry, Paul or even that guy with the Darkrai. It didn't matter, he'd go right through them all if he had to. He was going to be the one walking away the winner this time.

* * *

**Aaaand done! Damn did this chapter take a lot of work. I had very little idea of what to write for it, but I've got the majority of what comes next all planned out so it should be easier.**

**This is one of the worst chapters I've done in a while. But whatever with it out of the way I'll be able to move onto bigger and better chapters ya know?**

**Anyway, I'm done now. Too tired to think of anything else to discuss here. Reviews and yadda yadda, blah blah. Got any questions you know where to find me. Laterz guys, I'm going to sleep like the dead.**


	4. Chapter 4

**You know. Fanfiction has become more of a chore lately, I just don't seem to be getting any enjoyment out of it. It used to be a way for me to explore Ash's journey, almost like a Pokemon Game all my own. But lately, with rarely anything good updating. I just can't seem to get the mood going.**

**Maybe if I do a re-write of my 'Path Of A Master' story from long ago? Starting off at the beginning of his journey. Either way, hopefully I can get inspired for Pokemon fanfiction again. So remember to link me to whatever good Pokemon fics you find.**

**Yes, I'm really that desperate for some good Pokemon fics.**

**But on the note of Pokemon fanfiction – I did find one quite good story. It's been started quite recently and is already over 100k words in. It's not the usual kind of Pokemon Story I usually enjoy but it's well written nonetheless and reminds me a bit of Angel In The Machine.**

**The Last Guardian Of Aura – by Stjernefald. The story only has 42 reviews despite being over 100k words long and being a really good story. So I recommend you guys go read it. Review it and follow it – this story deserves way more attention than it is getting.**

**Huh, that's all I've got to say. So I'm done here for now.**

**Working The World With Skill**

**Chapter 4**

**Go!**

* * *

Slowly, both the battlefield and the trainers were raised up from underground into view. Ash locked eyes with Conway's glinting glasses and he smirked in anticipation.

"_**The Trainers who will battle it out today on the grass battle field are Conway... and Ash**_!" The MC declared, revving up the cheering crowd, "_**This will be a three on three battle and it will be over when all three Pokemon on either side are unable to continue – so who will be the one to advance to the second round of the Preliminaries**_?"

"Call it." The referee donned in yellow and black shouted, flipping a coin into the air.

"Heads." Ash guessed, while Conway remained silent.

"_**We use coin toss to decide who gets the first attack**_." The Mc explained. Catching the coin, the referee took a look and then pointed at Conway, "_**And it seems Conway has won the first attack**_, _**Trainers reveal your Pokemon**_!"

In twin bursts of silvery white light. Two Pokemon took form before their Trainers. In front of Conway materialized a rather small Pokemon with a red armoured shell covering its entire body and multiple holes which secreted yellow tentacles.

Meanwhile, standing before Ash appeared a large four legged beast. Brown haired, with a grey mane, the Pokemon had two sharp horns, a long snout and three thin tails.

"_**It seems Conway has chosen to start things off with Shuckle**_, _**While Ash has deigned to send out his Tauros**_ –_** Who will be the winner between these two diverse sets of Pokemon**_?" The MC commentated.

Up above on the massive screen off to the side of the battlefield. Both Ash and Conway's pictures with three blank icons below – lit up and each of the trainers had one blank icon replaced by pictures of their Pokemon.

"Heh." Conway snorted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger and smiling confidently, "Just as I predicted." He said, his voice reaching Ash's ears easily despite the noise of the crowd, "You chose a fast and powerful Pokemon." He explained when Ash raised an eyebrow in question.

'_What's his game here_?' Ash thought to himself. Shuckle were well known for their defensive abilities, but their attack power was severely low. There wasn't really much Shuckle could do in a battle besides play it defensively and possibly use health and stat oriented moves like Toxic.

"Begin!" the referee declared, swinging both flags held in his hands down.

"Withdraw, Shuckle!" Conway ordered.

With a quick retraction of its tentacles, Shuckle escaped entirely into its hard shell. The effect of the move became obvious a second later when the shell began to glow a deep crimson red for a few moments before dying down.

So he was going for a defensive play after all then? Well Ash wouldn't be letting that continue, "Tauros, Horn Attack!" The raven haired trainer commanded.

"Moooo!" Tauos bellowed loudly, taking off in a speeding charge with his horns at the ready.

"Withdraw again!" Conway followed up, smirking all the while.

Shuckle had enough time to perform the technique, just barely, before Tauros was upon it and spearing his horns into the hard shell with all his considerable strength.

A small shockwave blasted through the battlefield. Shell and horns stayed locked in a stalemate before Tauros was the one blasted backwards, grinding his legs so hard into the grass beneath as he slid back he left deep trenches in the grass.

"Heh, you've fallen right into my trap." Conway commented Ash raised an eyebrow once again in as if to say 'oh really?'. "Shuckle, Power Trick!" The glasses wearing trainer let his orders do the talking for him.

Ash's eyes widened as Shuckle re-appeaed from its shell and began to glow with a multitude of colors. He'd forgotten all about that attack – and it was picture perfect for a Pokemon like Shuckle. Still though, there were drawbacks to such a move.

"Now Gyro Ball!" Conway followed up.

* * *

Dawn, hugging Piplup to her chest and sitting in the stands beside Brock and Barry blinked in confusion, "What's Power Trick?" She asked.

"I knew he was gonna do that!" Barry whined, rubbing at his blonde hair erratically, "Somebody should fine that guy, gah!" He shouted.

Brock rolled his eyes, but deigned to ignore Barry and answer Dawn's question, "It's a technique that allows a Pokemon to switch their Defensive power with their Attacking power." He replied, "So it's a great move to pull with a Shuckle who has amazing defense but very low attacking power." The breeder explained.

Dawn frowned, "To be expected of Conway." She said, "To pull off a strategy like that."

* * *

A massive boom resounded throughout the stadium as Shuckle's spinning form struck true. The force behind the blow kicking up a massive dust cloud.

"And that's all she wrote for Tauros." Conway commented smugly

Therefore, so sure in his victory. Conway was mightily surprised when the cloud dispersed to show Tauros still standing, and with Shuckle caught between its horns.

"How!?" Conway was shocked silly, to say the least. Very few Pokemon could compare with a Shuckle's defense, but in return it had such low attack power a young Magikarp could overpower it. So using Power Trick, that should have translated over should it not have?

"You seem to have forgotten, Conway." Ash shouted over, thumbing his nose and smirking. "Not many Pokemon can take on a Tauros in a clash of physical strength, especially one of mine." And of course, Shuckle's strength was fake, a temporary and unnatural boost, and the Pokemon had little experience in comparison with Tauros at using such immense strength.

"You practically handed me this round!" Ash declared, triumph in his voice. It was a good strategy, but Conway, in his arrogance, let it get to his head and left Shuckle defenceless.

Conway's eyes widened as he also realized the implications of having Shuckle caught between Tauros' horns. But it was far too late for him to do anything about it, "Smash it into the ground and Hyper Beam!" Ash commanded.

Wit a mighty heave, Tauros slammed Shuckle into the grass beneath them powerfully. And while Shuckle cried out in pain, an orb of deadly purple energy formed and condensed within Tauros' mouth.

"Shuckle!" Conway cried in worry, raising his Pokeball in a desperate attempt to recall the Pokemon.

Far, far too late.

With a loud cry from Tauros, the deadly beam of devastating purple energy erupted from his mouth and was upon Shuckle before the defenceless Pokemom could so much as blink.

Exploding with searing heat, Shuckle stood no chance with its defensive prowess all but gone due to Power Trick and the small red shelled Pokemon was blasted straight into the wall behind Conway. Leaving a large, crater like dent in the metal surface.

"_**And with a bit of quick thinking and explosive power**_,_** Ash takes the first win of the match**_!" The MC declared.

Conway sighed. Saying nothing, he let the red beam from his Pokeball hit the practically comatose Shuckle and return it inside.

Switching the Pokeball for another, Conway tossed it up and released his next Pokemon. He still had his strategy for Ash after all – with his personality it was obvious to a genius such as he that he would focus on strong and fast Pokemon because that was the way Ash preferred to battle. Even that Torterra of his was fast in comparison with the rest of its species.

"Lickilicky, let's go!" Conway said, releasing his second Pokemon.

The evolved form of Lickitung appeared in front of him. Massive, pink and rotund the Pokemon had a gargantuan tongue that stretched all the way from its mouth down to its feet.

Up above, Conway first icon containing Shuckle's picture went dark and his second icon lit up with a picture of his Lickilicky.

* * *

"Wooh, way to go Ash!" Dawn cheered.

"You better kept this up Ash, or I'm gonna fine you!" Barry cheered on next.

Brock himself was nodding with approval. Ash really took advantage of Shuckle's disadvantages when using Power Trick. Even with all that power, Shuckle was still very slow so had no momentum behind its attacks and was left without any defense to speak of. So one well placed and powerful attack was all that was needed to take that round. He really used Tauros' natural strength to its utmost potential there.

Still though, he couldn't afford to let up here. Conway still posed a massive threat. The teen was incredibly smart, so Brock doubted he didn't have a few strategies in place for if this kind of thing happened.

Even then, predicting Ash would be one of the hardest things Conway could ever attempt. Because even after travelling with him for four years, Brock still hadn't managed to narrow down just how the younger teens thought process went in a battle.

* * *

Ash wasn't content to wait for Conway to attack this time. "Fissure!" The raven haired trainer ordered.

With another loud bellow, Tauros stood up on his hind legs and smashed down upon the grass battlefield beneath harshly.

The ground split from the force of the attack, and from that split an arc of bladed silver energy sliced through the grass towards Lickilickly.

Spinning off to the side, Lickilicky narrowly avoided the blade of energy. But as it dodged, Tauros was already stampeding in.

"Stone Edge!" Ash shouted over the roaring crowd.

As Tauros charged, a multitude of glowing spheres manifested around his charging form and took on the shape of small fist sized rocks. With a jerk of his head, Tauros sent the Stone Edge flying at Lickilicky.

"Power Whip, then follow up with Thunderbolt!" Was Conway's sharp reply to the hail of stones.

Coming out of its spin, Lickylicky threw its tongue outwards, glowing with pink energy and extending to an even greater size. With minimal effort, the massive tongue swiped the barrage of rocks out of the air and then was followed up quickly by a brilliant yellow arc of electricity.

Tauros was far too close to dodge. So Ash did the only thing he could.

"Charge right through!" The amber eyed teen ordered, eyes narrowed and fists clenched.

Tauros kept charging, and the arc of electricity struck true. With a great bellow of pain, Tauros was zapped by the attack and caused continuous damage as Lickilicky kept the attack going.

It was a battle of wills that no side would be the true victor in.

Lickilicky was too slow to avoid Tauros if it let go of the Thunderbolt, so its only option was to keep going and attempt to bring the charging bull Pokemon down before it reached it.

"Horn Attack!" Ash shouted suddenly when Tauros was mere metres away.

Twin horns erupting with bright light, Tauros leaped into the air and jumped the last bit of distance between him and Lickilicky.

The Thunderbolt was stopped, and Lickylicky gave a rumble of pain as the horns pierced its stomach and then sent the massive, rotound Pokemon skidding back a considerable distance.

Lickylicky barely kept standing, blood trickling down from the wound on its chest. While Tauros, fur singed and smoking from the electrical charge collapsed onto his knees.

Ash grimaced. That Thunderbolt had done a lot of damage, and his earlier clash with Shuckle left more damage than he'd shown. He may have caught the attack, but that did nothing to stop the impact from the attack and Tauros took that attack straight to the skull.

This was bad. Even the bulkiest Pokemon could be brought down easily if they took a good blow to the skull, Paul's Torterra was proof enough of that when Cynthia's Garchomp took it out with one blow.

On shaky legs, Tauros pushed himself back into a standing position and stood proudly despite the damage he had taken already.

Conway knew though that Lickilicky was the better off of the two though and wasn't about to let Tauros rest a bit and regain any energy. "Let's end this now Lickilicky, use Surf!" The glasses wearing training ordered sharply.

Ash's eyes bugged. How the hell would he even teach a Lickilicky to use Surf?

A sphere made up of pure water formed at the tip of its tongue, and Lickilicky smashed it down onto the ground below. There was a rumble, and then hardly time for the human eye to blink, a massive surge of water roared up from the depths of the ground below in the form of a massive wave.

Lickilicky stood safely behind the massive wave, taking refuge from any possible counter attack from Tauros. Ash grit his teeth and swore. Tauros had no attacks beside Hyper Beam that could possible obliterate that wave before it made it to him, so that left him with one option.

Brute force.

"Go right through it and end this with Giga Impact!" He commanded.

With a great, prideful bellow. Tauros once again charged into the fray.

Purple energy sparked, and a giant aura of purple energy coated Tauros' body and was then layered over by a spiralling yellow energy. The duo of aura's covering the Pokemon's body made it look like some sort of missile.

With one more last bellow, Tauros met the wave and cleaved straight the raging water like a hot knife through butter.

The wave imploded on itself as Tauros burst through the other end and Lickilicky had no time to react as the charging Pokemon hit it dead on and the stadium was rocked by another massive 'BOOm' that sent a rippling shockwave so strong throughout the battlefield the referee was knocked off his feet.

And when the dust fell, neither Pokemon were left standing.

"_**Well would you look at that folks**_!" The MC shouted enthusiastically, "_**Neither Pokemon are able to continue battling, thus leaving Ash with two Pokemon left while Conway only has one remaining**_ – _**Can he make a comeback**_?_** We'll just have to wait and see**_."

Both icons up on the scoreboard for Tauros and Lickylicky dulled away until the images were blacked out.

Returning Tauros to his Pokeball, Ash smiled fondly at the red and white ball in his hand. "Well done." He whispered in pride, "You done more than I should have asked for, take a nice long rest." And with that said he switched the Pokeball with another on his belt.

Conway pushed his glasses up his nose and chuckled, grasping another Pokeball of his own. "Heh, you may have the advantage right now Ash but I've created a sure fire winning strategy to beat you using this final Pokemon." He commented.

Ash blinked, a smirk stretching across his face. "Oh really?" The raven haired trainer asked.

"Yes." Conway replied, "You see, after all the battles I saw you compete in during your travels through this region I noticed you always prefer to use fast Pokemon – and thus I came up with a strategy to make all of your Pokemon's hard earned speed useless." He explained, glasses glinting in the sunlight as he gave off that creepy chuckle of his again.

Ash blinked again. What? Yeah, sure most of his Pokemon were all pretty fast in their own ways. But he didn't just use speedy Pokemon. If that was Conway's big strategy, then he had no chance in winning.

"Trainers, reveal you next Pokemon!" The referee ordered.

"Dusknoir, I choose you!" Was Conway's next Pokemon.

"Let's do this, Kingler!" While Kingler was Ash's.

In bursts of light, both Pokemon appeared. Dusknoir was a large, humanoid Cyclops like Pokemon that floated easily mid-air and had no legs. Its dark colored arms were thick and muscular and there was a pattern on the Pokemon's stomach that looked almost like a face.

While in response. Kingler was a many legged crustacean Pokemon, colored primarily orange and white. The Water-Type Pokemon had a large crown like pattern atop its head and had two large claws, one almost three times the size of the other.

"What!?" Conway shouted as he got a good look at Ash's next Pokemon. "This did not measure into my calculations at all!" And really, why should it have? According to Ashs' trainer page he hadn't even fought in an official battle with that Kingler of his in over two years. And even before then he used it rarely. He was so sure Ash would pick something like his Pikachu, Sceptile or even his recently evolved Infernape!

No matter! He shook his head, calming himself down. No need to panic, his strategy was just no longer needed. Even without it, Dusknoir had the power to help him win this match.

Up above Conway's final icon lit up with a portrait of Dusknoir, and Ash's second of Kingler. And Ash took that as his cue to jump straight into the action. "Kingler, Brine now!" He ordered quickly.

From his mouth, Kingler launched a powerful, spiralling stream of water.

Conway was nonplussed, "Teleport and then ThunderPunch!" He commanded in return.

Literally phasing away. Dusknoir evaded the jet of water and appeared at Kingler's side, unleashing a fist encased in sparking electricity.

"Crabhammer!" Ash countered as the blow struck.

"Koo...Keee!" Kingler grunted, taking the super effective attack like it was nothing and swinging his largest claw straight at Dusknoirs face, glowing bright with blinding power.

The blow missed as Dusknoir once again used Teleport to dodge, and re-appeared at Kingler's other side, unleashing another ThunderPunch.

Ash cursed as Kingler rolled with the momentum of the blow and used it to leap a safe distance away. Dusknoir merely watching intently with its red and yellow eye.

Dusknoir were usually quite slow Pokemon despite being Ghost-Types. Conway must have really put a lot of work into making Dusknoir master the technique to such a degree. And if his boasting about his strategy was anything to go by, Dusknoir had something else up its sleeve to render great speed virtually useless.

So in effect. Conway had made it so that Dusknoir would always be the fastest Pokemon in a battle, even without training to focus on speed. Ash had to hand it to him, he done a really great job in raising it.

But he still wasn't going to win this.

Switching Pokemon was useless for now. It would just turn out mostly the same, he'd have to lure Dusknoir in and get Kingler to counter at the very last moment.

Good thing he'd made sure Kingler had learned a way to make up for his lack of speed. He'd started the Pokemon he left at the Oak Ranch on a few special ways of training to go along with the usual training they got up to. And left them to it while he came to Sinnoh, so now it was time to put that training to good use.

Kingler was panting deeply, and there were two deep black scorch marks on either side of his body. But the Water-Type still look raring to go.

Too bad for Conway. Kingler was Dusknoir's worst possible match up.

"Brince, once more!" Ash said.

It was a testament to the amount of faith his Pokemon had in him, that Kingler didn't even blink at repeating an attack that failed so utterly before.

The jet of clear blue spiralling water was launched rapidly from Kingler's maw. Conway sighed, shaking his head in mock sadness, "Haven't you realized such 2 dimension attacks will not work on us?" He questioned in return to Ash and Kingler's actions.

He didn't even need to verbally give Dusknoir a command. The fully evolved Ghost-Type already knew what to do. Winking out of existence, it dodged the Brine attack and appeared right in front of Kingler fist cocked back, sparking with rampant electricity and ready to unload another devestating ThunderPunch straight in Kingler's face.

"Quash!" Was Ash's next, rapidly given command.

Before Dusknoir had time to unleash its attack, Kinglers eyes glowed a deep midnight black and Dusknoir was stopped In its tracks as miasmic energy clung all around its form.

Dusknoir was unable to even bring its arms up for a feeble defense as Kingler's massive claw came swinging down enhanced by the power of a CrabHammer attack and was smashed harshly atop the ghost Pokemon's head.

The force of the blow sent Dusknoir soaring back, still in its previous upright position. And it was only after the Crabhammer struck was Dusknoir's previous attack unleashed. With no control over its own body, Dusknoir threw a ThunderPunch attack that met nothing but air.

"What!?" Conway blurted in shock. What just happened? Why did Dusknoir freeze up? What technique did Ash pull out of his ass here? He didn't even hear the command from Ash over the roaring cheers of the crowd.

Until he figured out just what Ash pulled. It wasn't safe to send Dusknoir back in close with Teleport.

"Dusknoir, rapid fire Shadow Ball!" Conway ordered quickly. He couldn't let up on the offence, he had to keep the momentum going one way or the other and keep Ash from controlling the tempo of the battle. If that happened he may as well give up because he couldn't win.

Holding its hands up its head, Dusknoir formed a large sphere of purple miasmic energy crackling with barely constrained power. And then the sphere began to break down into dozens of small sized spheres and launched rapidly towards Kingler.

"Endure!" Ash commanded.

Kingler tensed and his body flashed red for a brief moment. One by one the barrage of tiny Shadow Balls slammed into Kingler, but the crab Pokemon stood its ground taking hit after hit with nary barely a grunt of pain.

* * *

Dawn winced as she watched Kingler be peppered by attack after attack, "I thought when Ash managed to stop Dusknoir teleporting around he had this match in the bag – but it seems Dusknoir is trained to handle any type of battle." The blue haired Coordinator commented.

"Speaking of that!" Barry broke in, "Just how did he do that anyway? The hell is Quash? That was a fine worthy ass-pull!" The hyperactive blonde ranted.

"Quash is a priority technique." Brock piped in, "It's an attack that stops an attacking Pokemon in its tracks and makes it unable to move until the user of Quash follows up with another attack – Ash followed up with a close range CrabHammer in order to knock Dusknoir away from Kingler so that it couldn't land its next attack when the effects of Quash faded." The slant eyed Pokemon Breeder explained.

"Gah!" Barry shouted, rubbing at his head rapidly "Hax! I call hax, somebody should fine him!" The blonde teen continued to shout vehemently.

Brock looked at the younger teen worriedly. Perhaps he was 'special'? It would explain a damn lot.

* * *

When the barrage finally came to an end, Kingler was still standing proudly. Though, there were multiple deep bruises forming on multiple places of the Pokemon's body.

Ash winced. Kingler wasn't gonna be fast enough to dodge, so he had him use Endure and take the hits as best he could. Still though, it wasn't pretty at all. He'd need to get Kingler to learn a defensive technique like Protect or something – because he was pretty much a sitting Psyduck for speedy attacks like that.

He had to end this soon. Kingler had the perfect attack to end this, but the problem was getting close. Conway wasn't going to risk getting in close for Kingler to use Quash and would most probably just pepper Kingler with speedy energy attacks from a far.

"CrabHammer!" The raven haired trainer finally decided on. It was a very versatile move, being good for both close combat and long distance.

"Koo Kee Koo Kee!" Kingler grunted, bringing his massive glowing claw down harshly upon the battlefield. A shockwave erupted from the force of the blow and a small narrow sphere of white energy erupted from the point of impact and roared across the field towards Dusknoir at breakneck speeds.

"CrabHammer and keep it up!" Ash ordered swiftly.

With speed belying his stature, Kingler rapidly began to smash his larger claw into the ground and shot off a rapid barrage of the small narrow energy spheres.

They were not as numerous as the Shadow Ball barrage by Dusknoir, but they were just as fast. Duskoir, like Kingler was far too slow to dodge such attacks and was forced to use Teleport and weave between the attacks in order to dodge.

It was as the barrage stopped and Dusknoir Teleported back in front of Conway that complications arose. While dodging the small orbs of energy, they had exploded on missing and kicked up a multitude of small dust clouds that shrouded the other side of the field from view.

And then a shadow descended and neither Conway nor Dusknoir reacted on time.

Black energy sparked, and Kingler came down like a bolt of lightning. Massive claw encased in black sparkling electricity, Kingler smashed a powerful Knock Off attack straight home on Dusknoir's cranium.

Ghost Pokemon like Dusknoir had the ability to phase through solid objects like walls and such. But in return for such an ability, it meant their physical bodies were rather weak in comparison with other types of Pokemon.

So it was no surprise, after taking the super effective strike from such a physically powerful Pokemon like Kingler – that Dusknoir was rendered unconscious and quite badly concussed before it even registered the pain of the attack.

And when the dust clouds cleared by the rapid fire CrabHammer barrage dissipated. Only Kingler was left standing above his fallen opponent. Larger claw raised, bellowing a victorious cry.

That was the only sound in the stadium, and when it finally ended it seemed to signal that it was the audiences' turn, as they erupted into a thundering applause that left ears ringing.

Up above and off to the side, on the massive wide screen. Conway's final Pokemon's icon darkened away before both the icons and Conway's portrait were knocked off the screen entirely and magnified on Ash's portrait as well as the two Pokemon he used to win the battle.

"_**And there you have it folks**_!_** In an extremely fast paced**_, _**excitement pumping battle Ash has defeated Conway using only two of his own Pokemon**_." The MC declared, his voice ringing throughout the entire stadium once again, "_**Give it up for these great Trainers and the great battle they had folks –**_ _**They sure made sure that the Preliminary Rounds of the Lily Of The Valley Conference started off with a bang**_!"

And as the crowd's roaring and cheering rose to new heights. Conway returned Dusknoir to its Pokeball, "You did well Dusknoir." He whispered to the Pokeball, "It was my fault we lost, I should have come up with a much better strategy to defeat Ash with." Shuckle, LickyLicky and Dusknoir they all done great. It was he who failed them in being arrogant enough to think he had so easily predicted the way Ash would battle.

His glasses glinted once again in the sunlight and he watched Ash happily embrace is Kingler and celebrate their win, "Next time, I'll make sure to predict every outcome and have a strategy ready for any one."

* * *

After congratulating and returning Kingler. Ash's eyes swept up throughout the stands of the stadium, searching for the familiar faces of his friends.

He found them, but he found someone else as well. Far up above even the stands, one cold eyed purple haired Trainer stood and met his eyes. Amber met black and a stare down commenced. It was a battle of wills, but ultimately Paul nodded his head in congratulations before breaking the stare off and leaving.

Ash watched him go. There was a fire raging in his chest. That guy who had the Darkrai? He meant nothing in the long run. Paul was his biggest rival here and that was that. Here, at the Sinnoh League he would be the one to walk away the winner and end their rivalry.

Ash would prove that he was the better trainer, and that abusing his Pokemon the way Paul did was not the way.

What is loved, will love in return. It was a simple concept, one that Paul just seemingly could not grasp. The cold purple haired Trainer had once accused Ash of training just like him, and it was true that they trained in similar ways but they were nothing alike in the long run. Paul ordered his Pokemon into any training he deemed fit, he did not reward them for their hard work and nor did he give them the praise they deserved for taking on such grueling training all for him.

And that was were they differed. Ash cared where Paul did not, and it would be the deciding factor here and the Lily Of The Valley Conference when they battled – he would win and Paul would lose, there was no doubt in his mind.

He was interrupted by a familiar blue haired girl wrapping her arms around his neck and hitching a ride on his back. Along with two more familiar figures in a small blue penguin Pokemon and small yellow rodent Pokemon leaping atop his shoulders, "Wooh you won!" Dawn shouted in delight. She pecked him on the cheek once again, "I guess the one I gave you last night made all the difference, so there's your reward Mr. Future Champion." She teased.

Ash felt his face flush slightly at the rather intimate action. They were still on the battlefield after all and the camera's were still recording. And Dawn had just jumped on his back and kissed him live on a show being broadcasted to the entire world.

Ugh...His mother better not have seen that. She would never leave him be if she got it into her head that Dawn was his girlfriend or something.

The raven haired trainer rolled his eyes, "C'mon then DeeDee let's go so I can take my Pokemon to the Pokemon Center." He replied, making his way over to the entrance carrying Dawn on his back all the way.

Dawn rapped him lightly on his hat covered head, "Oi, don't call me DeeDee!" She chided in annoyance, puffing her cheeks out and pouting.

Despite what she said a while back. It seemed her old nickname still got to her.

* * *

**Aaaand done!**

**Sorry the quality of this chapter is quite low. But like I said, it was more of a chore than anything else. I just don't seem to get enjoyment out of writing anymore. And it will probably be that way until something inspires me again.**

**I hope you enjoyed. But If you didn't, well my bad and sorry but you'll have to make do for now.**

**Later guys. I think I'll go play the Pokemon Glazed version Hack and see if I can't get some inspiration from it.**


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